The Consequences of Factions

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During the early formative years of the United States, James Madison contributed to the creation of many short essays describing what a functioning, well-established government should contain. In the 10th of his Federalist papers, Madison discusses the detrimental, yet necessary existence of factions in political life. Madison states that, “the latent causes of faction are sown in the nature of man” (Madison), the effects of these factions has to be effectively controlled by implementing the republican principle. By evaluating four separate policy events it is remarkable to see the relevance of the ideas that James Madison presents A national scandal that caused the public to re-evaluate the politicians and representatives they once thought they knew and trusted occurred in the heart of our nations capital. James Madison’s acknowledgement that the public is fearful that their liberties are being sacrificed in the conflicts of rival parties still has relevance to this very day. The Watergate Scandal, involving the Attorney General John Mitchell and the presidential candidate Richard Nixon is a superb case of one of those conflicts. The public had reason to fear because in order to secure power and influence in political seats, Nixon’s party had accepted illegal campaign funds, had used repressive executive power to silence the people who had disagreements with them, had been convicted with burglary in the democratic headquarters and it was revealed that confidential meetings were taped of the opposing party (“Watergate Scandal”). These courses of action proved that Nixon had created a faction, in which he united himself and a group of his correspondents to illegally obtain power for his party no matter the cost. Madison writes, “M... ... middle of paper ... ...sive republic the chances of a group of people being oppressed is greatly decreased and by examining four policy events that is evident. Works Cited "Watergate scandal." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 26 July 2011. "Lyndon B. Johnson: Remarks Upon Signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964." The American Mosaic: The African American Experience. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 27 July 2011. Duhl, Gregory M. "Civil Rights Act of 1964." The American Mosaic: The African American Experience. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 27 July 2011. Watts, Tim. "Iran hostage crisis." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 28 July 2011. WATSON, STEPHANIE. "Iranian Hostage Crisis." Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 158-160. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 28 July 2011.

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