Publius Few political figures have found themselves so deeply entrenched in the chambers of history, as to be known for virtually prophetic and forefront interpretations of their governments and societies. James Madison secured his place in that pedigree during post-revolutionary America through his work on the Federalist Papers, in which him and his compatriots argued for the ratification of the Constitution, which would lay out the principles for the organization and function of our government. While the Federalist Papers are a compilation of 85 essays, Federalist 10 stands out as being one of the most acclaimed and relevant pieces of Madison’s literary work. This kind of notoriety is owed to his keen analysis of the human tendency to form factions, and the ways in which a representative republic outlined in the constitution would be most effective in combating their adverse …show more content…
The first and most sensible option was to simply limit their effects through a sensibly structured government, and the latter was to completely remove factions. Madison explained that one way to remove factions was to create a homogenous society in which all opinions and interests would be uniform. From the standpoint of human nature that would impractical and impossible. Madison went on to point out that the second and more realistic way to remove all factions was to go after their roots, which were wealth inequity and liberty. Furthermore, Madison even made the distinction that “liberty is to faction what air is to fire”. However, he also made it clear that to get rid of those two factors was to jeopardize the American political life. We can see that from a 21st century perspective, because we have examples of societies that have either attempted to either restrict fundamental freedoms in attempt to create a uniform society, or collect all wealth and then redistribute