Federalist No. 10 Summary

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.

Publius. "The Federalist No. 10." The Constitutional Society. October 21, 2013. Accessed February 24, 2014. http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.html.

James Madison, "Federalist #10," in The Federalist Papers, ed. Clinton Rossiter (New York: New American Library, 1961), pp 77-84

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.

The American Constitution was a product of the extensive and considerable debates on theoretical argumentation. Robert Yates, assumed to be the writer of pseudonym Brutus I, represents the Anti-Federalist view of governments and the way that constitution should assert their powers on society, while Federalist 10 gives us an glimpse of the Federalist view of society. Both these documents present us with the best examples of Anti-Federalist and Federalist thought. A major topic discussion between these two documents is the size of republics, as well as each view as to why their notions are the best for the new society.

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.

Madison, J. (1787, November 27). Federalist, no. 10, 56--65. Electronic resources from the University of Chicago Press Books Division. Retrieved May 22, 2010, from http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch4s19.html

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.

It wasn’t until I was in 9th grade, when I was asked to write a response paper to an excerpt from James Madison’s Federalists Paper No.10. In order to be considered as a student in the upcoming school year’s AP United States History