In 1787, many states hesitated to help ratify the new constitution. The anti-Federalists anonymously submitted essays in the newspapers that discouraged the new way of the government. Three men John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison put together eighty-five essays to help support the new constitution that were published in the New York newspapers. All essays were to persuade states, especially New York, to approve the new constitution. Federalist paper ten was written by James Madison. James Madison first talks about the number one problem in the government: factions. He thought factions had very dangerous behaviors especially in popular government. They cause the governments to be unstable which contributes to “unsteadiness and injustice”. This document goes on to explain what factions are; a faction is a group of passionate people with the same interest. Madison believed these people were only interested in themselves and ignored the community. Factions are formed most likely because of the unequal distribution of property. Usually the government job was to protect and regulate anything that had to do with property. This hurt people. James Madison also talks about the two ways of removing the factions. The first way was to remove the cause of what they got together in the first place. This is not an easy thing to do …show more content…
According to Madison, pure democracy is a society consisting of small number of citizens voting. So pretty much the majority of people versus the government. A Republic government consists of representatives that protects the given rights for everyone. This form of government “promises the cure for which we are seeking”. James Madison states that he believes in the virtue of a “republic” over “democracy”. He believes in the republic government because in a democracy the people are not representing the majority. That will cause for even more factions which he does not
Because factions are a plague to all involved, methods must be created to stop them. The first of two methods Madison suggests is to stop the cause of them. However. Factions are unavoidable as long as there are differences
Madison wrote the Federalist Paper 51 presenting and explaining how a branch of government with too much power can become tyrannical, but, if we have them separated, it can protect the liberty. Each branch (legislative, executive and judiciary) should be independent, not having power to interfere in the other two branches, making the citizens the one who are gonna elect their representatives in each branch through elections. Madison claims, "It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. Different interests necessarily exist in different classes of citizens. If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure”. It shows the benefits of these factors, discussing how each branch would protect liberty, especially to the minority parties.
It took guts, determination, and patriotism for America to separate from Britain and support themselves independently. With limited time to map out political authority, America’s heroes joined together and crafted the Articles of Confederation to completely kick out Britain. The Articles were able to last for several years, until natives discovered the weaknesses of Congress and communication between the states. Trade was slowed, taxation was irrelevant, and foreign policy seemed to be avoided because Congress was denied these responsibilities in fear of turning tyrannical. It was obvious the United States was on a crash course for failure, and someone needed to tackle the responsibility of reuniting the country.
Essay #10 signed by Publius, who is assumed to be James Madison, is the argument for having factions, or interest groups, in politics. Essay # 10 is the tenth Federalist Papers, which aimed at convincing the ratification of the new United States Constitution. The former constitution was the Articles of Confederation, which failed miserably. In the Articles of Confederation, each state retained their own sovereignty and ability to make laws. The states had more power than the national government. There were several problems with the Articles: there was no real executive, there was a very weak national army, and most wealthy Americans didn’t favor the Articles because of the customs tax between the states. The Articles didn’t efficiently decrease the negative effects or control them. Therefore, a new government and a new Constitution were necessary.
Madison goes on to say in a democracy ruled by the people it is important to protect ourselves from injustice which may be caused by any particular group or citizens. Majorities will presumably threaten the minority. He proclaims there are two methods to destroy this evil. His first suggestion is to build a powerful government. His opinion is that this solution is potentially dangerous, because this government system might assist in throwing its power to a group that is working against the public good. Instead he mentions, in the United States the
Either way factions are inevitable. Madison says, “Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires.” Therefore, without liberty, democracy wouldn’t survive. That leaves the second option available, controlling the effects of factions. To do so, Madison advises that the country needs a bigger republic with plenty of
Throughout this chapter Hamilton shares a variety of methods that he used to question the country’s ability to join together after the fall of the confederacy. Hamilton tries to calm many American who fear that the government is too strong because they were created by the new constitution of the United States. Although many people were in distress Hamilton knew how to handle the situation and states that the government
Excerpts from The Federalist Papers No. 10 and 51 show that James Madison was telling his fellow countrymen what he envisioned as a sustainable form of government; controlling factions within the majority and minority parties, the need of a republic form of government instead of a pure democracy, and establishing a form of checks and balances by a separation of power within the legislation.
The Founding Father wanted a nation that was large enough to support many diverse citizens, this was a problem that had to be solved efficiently. Then, James Madison thought of two ways to solve the problem: by eliminating the source or by eliminating the effects. He first thought of ways to eliminate the source of the problem by thinking of two methods: by not giving liberty to the public and/or making everyone think alike as one. He saw that both of these options were impossible to achieve because it would conflict with the goal of the Founding Fathers on how the government in America should work. (Quote on why it would fail in book) Then Madison went on to focus on eliminating the effects. He knew that it was impossible to get people to think alike, but if they were to vote on someone who could represent that population, and if it were to be a majority's vote then it would be most if not all of the people’s vote on who to represent that population. If this process were to be repeated within other populated areas, then those representatives would form a small community and then the Republican
Madison believes it is a process or aftereffect of people being born with very different physical and mental capacities. In order try to remove the causes of faction are only two options: destroy free will by taking away the opinion of every citizen, passions and interests. The first won’t work because we have fought long and hard for freedom. The second is not fascinating nor even possible. By factions, whether amounting to a largest of a minority of the whole faction. Who are untied and actuated by some common impulse of passion or of interest, opposing of the rights of other citizens, or to the durable and collective interests of the community? There are a few things bad about faction one of those things are they will try to get they want even if it hurts others. Madison wants to create a republic. Two ways to remove factions are to destroy liberty so we can’t take it away again that’s why destroying liberty won’t work. The system does not work today because people can have better communication around so they can have the same interests around the country. The point of the Federalist papers was to promote the ratification of the constitution. Madison believed that factions operate in their own interest and ignore the rights of other citizens and interest of the community. Madison believes that as long as man is allowed to exercise liberty that different opinions will be
The main theme of Chapter One, is to bring to our attention that basis for Madison’s Republic. Essentially, this is the matter of self-interest. Madison’s Federalist articles were an argument for the adoption of the Constitution. His theory revolves around the premise that three things are essential ingredients of the Republic. Self-interest, conflict and representation, and these lead to dispersed power. It is human nature for man to follow his passions and partialities over reason in an attempt to get what he wants. Political theory has the task of helping us understand why “who gets what”. Although a Republic based on this theory is not without flaws, because the process may slow the decision process, dispersion of power creates a system
Madison begins paper ten talking about the problem of factions. The Constitution and republican form of government would be the best to eliminate these, however instead of just saying this, Madison beings by listing a radical and extreme solution to the factions in America. Madison describes how “there are two methods of curing the
The Constitution can be revised is that the Constitution gives that a correction might be proposed either by the congress with a 66% greater part vote in both the place of agents and the senate or by an established tradition called for by 66% of the state legislatures.
In writing The Federalist No. 10, Madison starts by stating that a well constructed union provides many advantages overall. He then goes on to highlight the importance of such a union to hold an inclination to dissolve and control the possible violence as a result of factions; this becomes what is likely one of the most notable arguments in favor of the constitution. A faction is a generally small, organized, group within a larger one that holds opinions that differ from those that are official or commonly held within the larger group. James Madison writes about the many negative and destructive effects of political factions
The Federalist Paper No. 10 argues that a republic is capable of controlling the effects of faction, more than a democracy. The reason is that a system of representation is more capable of protecting the rights of the individuals, as well as being able to balance the needs of the public good. James Madison views many advantages of a republic over a pure democracy. A republic, Madison writes, is different from a democracy because its government is placed in the hands of delegates, and as a result of this, it can be extended over a larger area. The idea is that in a large republic there will be more “fit characters” to choose from for each delegate (Hollitz, 106). The chosen elites as representatives of the people will be more helpful to the public good than by the people themselves. Also, the fact that each representative is chosen from a larger number of citizens should make the “vicious arts” (Hollitz, 107). For instance, in a larger republic a corrupt delegate would need to bribe many more people in order to win an election than in a small republic, making it more difficult for unworthy candidates. Second, the same advantage which a republic has over a pure democracy in controlling the effects of faction by a larger over a small republic (Hollitz, 107). Madison explains the failure of democracy for not understanding the need of the public good. Another flaw that Madison identifies in a democracy is that it allows individuals to be their own