Although James Madison’s Federalist Paper #10 has been revered as the basic fundamental for political power in the constitution, I believe there is more to the story.
Federalist Paper #10 discusses factions (groups of people who have interests not identical to that of an overall society) and how to prevent them from abusing their political power. He believes there are “two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects.” Madison realizes that it is truly impossible to prevent factions as they are caused by the nature of man and unequal distribution of property and wealth. He states that “Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests …show more content…
He believes a direct democracy “can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction” as there are no checks against the majority and it would be easy to enact malevolent policies. In the republic, he argues, there is a cure for preventing dishonorable politics and proposes republican ideals.
In his republic ideal, a small group of citizens are elected by their peers as delegates to represent the whole society. This allows the small group to make the decisions on what is truly best for everyone. Since the decision makers are elected by the society, it could be assumed that they are the “wisest” and will make it more difficult for vicious policies to take effect, especially in a larger society. Today, the U.S does hold a representative democracy. Through the election of congress, the president, and other officials, U.S citizens are utilizing Madison’s ideals from Federalist …show more content…
He claims that if any of the powers are combined, there is no liberty. This is in agreement with Federalist #51 as it states that each department should have its “own will” and not be associated with members of the other departments. I believe both of these to be crucial to the formation of the current constitution.
Lastly, congress acts as a representative for the people. The Articles of the Confederation is considered the first constitution of the U.S. Although the Articles of the Confederation gave congress weak power, the states still had delegate representation. Though the level of power may be less than in the constitution, the ideas are still similar and, I believe this helped formulate the political structure we have
Federalist Paper #10 discusses factions (groups of people who have interests not identical to that of an overall society) and how to prevent them from abusing their political power. He believes there are “two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects.” Madison realizes that it is truly impossible to prevent factions as they are caused by the nature of man and unequal distribution of property and wealth. He states that “Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests …show more content…
He believes a direct democracy “can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction” as there are no checks against the majority and it would be easy to enact malevolent policies. In the republic, he argues, there is a cure for preventing dishonorable politics and proposes republican ideals.
In his republic ideal, a small group of citizens are elected by their peers as delegates to represent the whole society. This allows the small group to make the decisions on what is truly best for everyone. Since the decision makers are elected by the society, it could be assumed that they are the “wisest” and will make it more difficult for vicious policies to take effect, especially in a larger society. Today, the U.S does hold a representative democracy. Through the election of congress, the president, and other officials, U.S citizens are utilizing Madison’s ideals from Federalist …show more content…
He claims that if any of the powers are combined, there is no liberty. This is in agreement with Federalist #51 as it states that each department should have its “own will” and not be associated with members of the other departments. I believe both of these to be crucial to the formation of the current constitution.
Lastly, congress acts as a representative for the people. The Articles of the Confederation is considered the first constitution of the U.S. Although the Articles of the Confederation gave congress weak power, the states still had delegate representation. Though the level of power may be less than in the constitution, the ideas are still similar and, I believe this helped formulate the political structure we have