Federalist No 10 Analysis

In “Federalist #10”, Madison describes the dangerous effects that factions can have on Republican government and on its people. Madison defines a faction as a group of citizens who unite under a shared cause, and work against other groups in order to achieve their means. Their means of achieving their goals may achieve adverse effects upon the rights of other citizens. Put in more modern terms, a faction could be reasonably compared to a special-interest group. The sort of faction that most endangers the liberty inherent in United States society are factions that contain a majority of the whole. The weakness of a popular government is its susceptibility to the effects of factions. However, a well-constructed Union provides numerous advantages, and its ability to break and control factions is its most important and vital to the success of the Union. Factions arise due to the nature of man to be moved by different opinions and passions. Men will be diverse in their opinions as well as their social and economic classes, and just by the mere presence of dividing classes will factions arise. By means of factions, legislative measures are often decided by an overbearing majority, with little or no regard for others who do not share their interests. Protecting against factions will protect those in the minority, and ensure that the public good is served.

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.

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 Papers written by Alexander Hamilton, argues that for the US to succeed it needs to become a Union with a centralized government and must become a confederation in order to succeed. He makes a strong logical argument and I ultimately feel he was correct and I am very thankful that he and many others made sure we did not become a confederation. In the seventh paper of the Federalist Papers his main points are that confederations are weaker militarily, trade over multiple confederations will make trading difficult across states, and national debts such as the money owed after revolution are very hard to repay. These reasons are some of the major points why America would not have succeeded as a confederation.

Federalist #10 is written by James Madison addressing the state of New York, and is a continuation of Federalist #9, which attempts to address the Union as a safeguard against domestic faction and insurrection. It hopes to instill in the anti-federalists that the constitution safeguards against incivility and uprising. Madison believes that “(the American constitutions) have as effectually obviated the danger on this side, as was wished and expected”. He believes that the United States Constitution is well-covered against possibilities of insurrection and uprising from both inside and outside of government positions in office, and this is what he is attempting to explain to the citizens of New York.

In Federalist 10, James Madison is discussing the issue of factions in the US government. At first, Madison defines to us that factions are groups of people who share the same economic and political opinions. He believes that America is in turmoil from the effects of factions, but at the same time he believes that factions are inevitable as long as man have different opinions. Madison mentions that factions are constantly at war with each other, and normally are not looking out for the greater good of the people. From his perspective on the issue, he is able to think of two solutions.

Supporters of the Constitution called themselves Federalists, a name referring to a balance of power between the states and the national government. They argued for a federal system as in the Constitution. James Madison claimed that the Constitution was less dangerous that it looked because the separation of powers protected people from tyrannical abuse. The Federalists compile a group of essays, known as The Federalist Papers. In No. 51, Madison insisted that the division of powers and they system of checks an balances would protect Americans from the tyranny of centralized authority. He wrote that opposite motives among government office holders were good, and was one of the advantages of a big government with different demographics. In No. 10, he said that there was no need to fear factions, for not enough power would be given to the faction forming people; thus, they wouldn't become tyrannical. Hamilton, in No. 84, defended the Constitution with the case that the Constitution can be amended by representatives, who are there to represent the citizens' interests.

Federalist 10 Liberty. This word means many things to many people. There is no way to distinctly define the term without leaving someone's crucial point of view out of the equation. One person might say that anarchy would be the only way to have complete and utter freedom, while others would go as far as to believe a controlled communist government is the best route to achieving liberation. Factions (a group of people who agree on certain topics) are inevitable, due to the nature of man.

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.

In the Federalist Papers, there was a great concern for Factions. Factions are a political group that has one single major aim. They can be very powerful; which could be a positive and a negative thing depending on the goal they are trying to achieve. A fear that factions could actually control the government made the founding fathers uneasy. The Constitution did not support factions but could not abolish them either, because it would go against the liberty of citizens. Madison also did not support factions as he states in Federalist 10 that “The public good is often disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties”. Either way factions had to stay because abolishing factions meant abolishing liberty.