Critical Review: Federalist Paper #10 The Federalist Paper number ten was an essay written by James Madison to support the ratification of the U.S Constitution. Its content deals with factions and how the effects of factions can be minimized. There were two options given; to do away with liberty, or create a society with the same opinion. To eliminate liberty was out of the question. That left the second option, giving every individual the same opinion, which is unrealistic. The main obstacle is that as long as people have free will and are able to think freely they will form different opinions. The difference in opinions that occurs leads to factions. People no matter how just will always look out for their own interest. The example given Faction will then only think of what benefits them and start to disregard what others believe. The factions will have different number of people that support it; meaning that one faction will be the majority and the other will be the minority and could potentially lead to the Tyranny of Majority. If all the power is left at the hands of the majority it is very likely that the majority will trample on the rights of minority. Since people will never have the same opinion as long as they are free to think, then a solution to the Paradox of Classical Liberalism: the Tyranny of Majority is to form a republic with elected representatives. The U.S Constitution would offer several measures to avoid factions and by extension the tyranny of majority .To avoid faction the number of representatives would need to be large but limited to avoid confusion. It also offered a bicameral legislature, in which one chamber would be close to the people allowing them to worry about local and “lesser interest” and the other would be less attached to the people to be able to focus on national issues. The Republic would also be too large, in population, that there would be fewer chances of people with the same interest to band together The Constitution was strongly opposed because it would create a centralized form a government. Federalist Paper number ten reassures the people of America that the Constitution would create a large republic which would provide protection from faction and by extension the Tyranny of Majority. In the same paper, Madison mentions that the formation of faction was engraved in the nature of man a statement that contradicted the purpose of this essay . This means that human nature is strong and individuals will search for others that have similar interest and passions. His theory that the large republic would prevent factions seemed like a logical one, but there was already factions forming even before the constitution was ratified with the formations of the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist. The large population and its vast lands were not obstacles for communication; therefore, the controversial ideas and political opinions were still at the reach of the people and this allowed establishment of factions. The perfect example of communication aiding the formation of factions is when same tactic of gaining support through Newspaper articles that the Federalist utilized to get the support to ratify the Constitutions was used to gain support for the Democratic Republican party five years later. The start of the
Federalist 10 is an article by James Madison and by far is one of the most famous. In the article Madison stressed that the strongest factor in the Constitution is that it establishes a government capable of controlling the violence and damage caused by factions. Factions are a group of individuals who gather together in a union or political party and are against government control. They are sometimes groups called ‘sub-factions’ and they were technically a party within a party. Factions try desperately to advance their agenda, special economic interests, and political opinions. Factions work against the public interest and infringe upon the rights of others. To put an end to factions is inevitable. Madison summed it up best by saying as long as men hold different opinions, have different amounts of wealth, and have different amount of property, they will continue to associate with those similar. In other words, those who had large amounts of money and owned land/property were the typical individuals who would be in factions.
The Federalist papers were for the constitution being ratified. They were written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton. They consisted of 85 articles and essays. Most of them were published between 1787 and 1788 although; the author’s names were kept a secret until 1818. Hamilton decided to sign the papers “Publius” to keep his name anonymous. Hamilton was the first to publish an essay and soon picked Madison and Jay to assist him. To their surprise, the Federalist papers influenced many of the New York people to vote for having the constitution ratified. On the contrary, the Anti-Federalist papers did not agree entirely with the new Constitution. They were written by many different authors. Although, some of the more popular Anti-Federalists were Patrick Henry, John Hancock, Sam Adams, etc. They were also 85 Anti-Federalist papers. Much like the federalist papers, they Anti-Federalists adopted the name “Brutus”.
The Federalist, No. 10, by James Madison is a clear expression of views and policies for a new government. Madison was a strong supporter and member of the Federalists whose main beliefs favored the Constitution. They also believed that the Articles of Confederation needed to be rewritten so that a new central government would control the power of the states.
In The Federalist Papers by James Madison, Madison discuses various aspects of government and how the government must be organized in order to better represent the people. In The Federalist, No. 10 Madison discusses the nature of political factions and parties and how they can affect the government and its practices. The Federalist, No. 51 discusses instead how the government being in branches helps maintain liberties and better protect the American people. The topics mentioned in The Federalist Papers continue to explain and structure our government today.
The Federalist wanted to ratify the Constitution while the Antifederalist despised the idea entirely. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay eventually compiled 85 essays as the Federalist Papers. These supporters of the Constitution believed that the checks and balances system (a system in which the different parts of an organization (such as a government) have powers that affect and control the other parts so that no part can become too powerful )would allow a strong central government to preserve states' rights. They felt that the Articles of Confederation was too weak and that they were in need for a change. The Articles of Confederation had “errors” that needed to be corrected argued the Federalist. Ratifying the Constitution lead to an improved more advanced country.
Madison begins perhaps the most famous of the Federalist papers by stating that one of the strongest arguments in favor of the Constitution is the fact that it establishes a government capable of controlling the violence and damage caused by factions. Madison defines that factions are groups of people who gather together to protect and promote their special economic interests and political opinions. Although these factions are at odds with each other, they frequently work against the public interests, and infringe upon the rights of others.
The Independent Journal published the first Federalist essay in 1787, closely following the Constitutional Convention. This was one of 85 essays that were all soon published in support of the Constitution. The essays were all published under the alias name “Publius.” All essays were compiled into a single volume titled The Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers is considered a significant illustration of American political philosophy under the Articles of Confederation, which were adopted by the Continental Congress. The Articles set up the first legislative system that unified the thirteen states that battled in the American Revolution. A major theme that was discussed in the essays centers around the idea that the United States could not continue to endure under the Articles of Confederation and the weaknesses that accompany it. The Articles gave states the authority to create their own laws, however they were unsuccessful in creating a strong government. The essay suggested that immediate action be taken to prevent the impending anarchy that would ensue under these Articles.
The dangers of faction can somewhat outweigh the good. The framers of the American Constitution feared the power that could possibly come about by organized interest groups. Madison wrote "The public good is disregarded in the conflict of rival factions citizens who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community." However, the framers believed that interest groups thrived because of freedom, the same privilege that Americans utilize to express their views. Madison saw direct democracy as a danger to individual rights and advocated a representative democracy to protect individual liberty, and the general public from the effects of such inequality in society. Madison says "A pure democracy can admit no cure for the mischief's of faction. A common passion or interest will be felt by a majority Hence it is, that democracies have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths."
In conclusion, Madison thinks the human nature is ambitious, and the fixed outcome of human ambitions is people create factions to promote their own interests. In the case of preventing corrupt or mischief by factions, he believes majority and pure democracy is not a solution. The method he advocated is a large republic with checking system. He converts human ambition to provide internal checks and balances in government. His point of view stimulated the approval of the proposal of the United States Constitution.
...he other hand, Madison discusses the topic of liberty in that it is what fuels factions. He says that removing liberty is one of the only ways to destroy a faction. He proceeds to state that this is not probable, and that factions can not be destroyed, but we must control their consequences in order to have a stable government. Madison believes that the Constitution preserves man's liberty by fairly representing them in a central government.
The Federalist Papers 10 & 51 were essays which helped persuade the citizens of the United States to vote for the federal Constitution. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay used pseudonyms as their names to convince the public. Those who were skeptical of voting for a government, which had many different major powers, were reassured by the founding fathers in their speeches and conventions throughout the U.S.
The American Revolution stirred political unity and motivated the need for change in the nation. Because many Americans fought for a more balanced government in the Revolutionary War, they initially created a weak national government that hampered the country's growth and expansion. In the Letter from Abigail Adams to Thomas Jefferson, Mrs. Adams complained about the inadequacy of power that the American government had to regulate domestic affairs. The Articles of Confederation was created to be weak because many had feared a similar governing experience that they had just eliminated with Britain. The alliance of states united the 13 local governments but lacked power to deal with important issues or to regulate diplomatic affairs. Congress did not have the power to tax, regulate trade, or draft people for war. This put the American citizens at stake because States had the power to refuse requests for taxes and troops (Document G). The weakened national government could not do anything about uprisings or small-scale protests because it did not have the power to put together an army. The deficiencies of the confederation government inspired the drafting of the American Constitution. The document itself embodied the principle of a national government prepared to deal with the nation's problems. In James Madison's Federalist Paper, he persuades the American public to adopt the Constitution so that the government can protect humans from their nature and keep them out of conflicts.
In Madison's Federalist 10, it is evident that he was not in favor of the formation of factions. He states, "…The public good is often disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties…" Madison made the point that the dangers of factions can only be limited by controlling its effects. He recognized that in order to abolish political parties from the government completely, liberty would have to be abolished or limited as well. For this reason, the government had to accept political parties, but it did not have to incorporate them into being a major part of the government. He says that the inclination to form factions is inherent, however the parties effectiveness can be regulated. If the party is not majority than it can be controlled by majority vote. Madison believed that in the government established by the Constitution, political parties were to be tolerated and checked by the government, however the parties were never to control the government. Madison was absolutely convinced that parties were unhealthy to the government, but his basic point was to control parties as to prevent them from being dangerous.
In Federalist No. 10, James Madison stresses that “measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.” Madison philosophized that a large republic, composed of numerous factions capable of competing with each other and the majority must exist in order to avoid tyranny of majority rule.# When Federalist No. 10 was published, the concept of pluralism was not widely used. However, the political theory that is the foundation for United States government was the influential force behind pluralism and its doctrines.
The first step of the Constitution was undemocratic. No popular vote was taken either directly or indirectly on the proposition to approve a convention (Beard 14). The group of men who wanted the convention was skillful in getting it approved in that their proposal of it was a surprise. This gave the Federalists an upper hand. Their opponents, the Anti-Federalists, could not refuse to a discussion of possible, and perhaps necessary, reforms. By refusing, they could lose the support of the public very easily (Roche 18).