Federalist 10 Pros And Cons

James Madison’s Federalist 10 was written amid criticisms that a republican form of government had never been successful on a large scale. Madison’s argument was that a well-constructed union could control factions. He argued that in order to control factions from their causes, we would need to either give up liberty or free thought. Since we cannot infringe upon these two natural rights, we must move on to controlling the effects. A republic, Madison argues, would be able to do this because the people choose the representatives, and they choose representatives who they feel best represent their opinions.

On the other hand, Cornell explains that this “will of the people” was often contorted on both sides as political debate. Thus, the “dissenting tradition” was not more than who was more qualified to run the government through countless debates and public appeal. As explained by Cornell,”Each side expended enormous energy crafting appeals to persuade citizens that it was better qualified to represent the will of the people” (Cornell 21). Thus, the Anti-Federalists were using the people to debate themselves in the public sphere to gain the will of the common man and avoid the evil corrupt centralized authority.

James Madison’s Federalist #10 outlines one of the key strengths of the U.S. Constitution; specifically, how our government guards against and uses factions. In particular, Madison focuses on the struggle between the majority and minority factions. He goes in depth to explain how the setup of the government prevents the development of an overbearing and abusive majority faction that might seek to deprive the minority faction of its rights. Madison begins by explaining that every argument or issue produces two sides, one of which will be numerically superior. Under direct democratic rule, this group would be able to impose their will upon the minority without any limitations; this could lead to impulsive decisions that ultimately are not in the public’s best interest.

Perhaps the most famous Federalist paper, Federalist 10, starts off by saying that one of the biggest arguments that favors the Constitution is that it creates a government suited to minimize the harm caused by factions. Faction, in this case, is defined as a group of people whether a minority or majority based on class, race, and profession that all share a common interest. It was inevitable that factions would occur and perhaps the defining characteristic was the unequal distribution of property. This would ultimately lead the poor without property to become the majority in a “tyranny of the masses.” Madison believed that there were two solutions in preventing majority factions, 1) Remover the causes, and 2) Control the effects.

Throughout Federalist 10 Madison addresses the issue of political factions, or parties, and how they are a problem, and how to deal with them. Madison describes factions as like minded people who come together to impose their views on others. The first method Madison proposes is to remove the causes that make the faction, and the second being by controlling its effects. In order to do those things Madison says that we must destroy liberty, and give everyone the same opinions, passions and the interests respectfully. Neither of these ideas would work however because if you destroy liberty just because it gives rise to factions, you would be destroying something that is good just because it has a small side effect that can be seen as

There will always be fractions, but the form of a republic forces them to be unified, smaller and less likely to overcome the each other. A republican government is maintained by representatives chosen by the people instead of a democracy ran by the people themselves. Because these representatives need votes, Madison argues that a republic with a large group of people enable leaders to be more accountable and concerned for the good of the people. Madison argues the need for a large republic by

The other document I would be using is the Federalist No 10. The big idea of this document is how the government needs to protect our diversity. In the Federalist No 10 James Madison says, “Among the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed union none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violation of fraction.” The citizens wanted to be sure that the government wouldn’t keep or make a secret or commit an unlawful act against the union.

Before the famous Constitution became published on September 17, 1787, there was a huge democracy over it since some people supported it (federalists), while others opposed it (anti-federalists). Basically the main arguments used by the Anti-Federalists in the discussion of the U.S. Constitution was the fact that the Constitution offered too much power to the federal government and that the rights of the people were not promised through a Bill of Rights. In order to get their words out, they had ratified convections for the thirteen states. They choose to go to Pennsylvania first because of its size, influence, and wealth.

10 in an attempt to ratify the Constitution, the new form of government for the United States. In the Federalist Paper No. 10, Madison analyzed the way to deal with facts, made a comparison between a pure democracy and a republic, and made another comparison on whether a small government or a large government would be the best for America. He informed the people that there is not a way to completely get rid of factions, but there are ways to deal with them. One great way to deal with factions is by having a government that knows how to control and deal with their effects. Madison believes that a republic can do that job better than a democracy, because a democracy is a small society of people who can not admit there is a cure to factions.

Scholars argue that Federalist #10 can be considered the most important explanation of the genius of our federal political system. Written by James Madison, he directed everyone’s attention to the argument in favor of the Constitution, where many believed it established a government that was suited in regulating the corruption done by factions. However, Madison brought to attention the situation in the republican government, where the power is vested in the people, the majority would often sacrifice the minority’s rights to their own egotistical desires. He went further to argue that by setting up an extended republic, including multiple social groups, it would prevent the society from dividing between the wealthy and the poor.

In the case of taxation, the more powerful of the two parties would have the opportunity to impose higher taxes on the minority, thus, saving themselves money. Madison firmly believed that the constitution had the ability to solve the problems created by factions. Madison envisioned a large republic that would make it difficult for corrupt candidates to get elected. Madison expressed this by stating, In the next place, as each representative will be chosen by a greater number of citizens in the large than in the small republic, it will be more difficult for unworthy candidates to practice with success the vicious arts by which elections are too often carried; and the suffrages of the people being more free, will be more likely to centre in men who possess the most attractive merit and the most diffusive and established characters.

James Madison’s main ideas in Federalist 10 were about factions and how to remove the causes but also control the effects. He described a faction as “By a faction, I understand a number if citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community (“The Federalist #10).” Madison was correct in his statements about removing the causes and controlling the effects of factions. During the time Federalist 10 was written the Federalists were using the papers to help convince the states to ratify the Constitution.

Madison brings up that it isn’t possible to divide power absolutely equally and “In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates.” (2). And so, the legislative branch will be divided even more to try and combat the unbalance of power. Madison thought this system was a good method because he believed that it was part of human nature to have conflicting ideas and wants, and so each branch could keep the others in line and therefor no one power is above the others. Furthermore, Madison believes a bigger government with multiple branches is better because then it becomes difficult for one

A president is truly affective when he is able to get his policy agenda through Congress. For him to do this, it is paramount that he has the support from the majority of the public. When a president is unpopular, members of Congress will have little incentive to pass his preferred legislation, since doing so will potentially have negative consequences for them (i.e. not winning reelection). It is also important that the president be a competent negotiator if he is to get his agenda passed. It is unrealistic for a president to expect that he will get all aspects of a particular agenda item passed without making his concessions.

(a.) The purpose of the Tenth Amendment is to delegate many powers to the states. In the Amendment, it is said that any power not delegated to the national government that is not prohibited to the states, is given to the states to carry out. If a power is not given or restricted, it is constitutionally a state power. The Tenth Amendment is intended to contribute to federalism by giving the states a broad and extensive set of powers. The powers are much more numerous than the specific ones delegated to the national government.