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James Madison's 'Federalist No. 10'

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In Federalist No. 10, James Madison describes factions as, “a number of 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 main issues that arise with factions are the following complaints of citizens: that the government is unstable, that the well-being of the public is overlooked in the struggles of opposing parties, and that measures are decided by a superior force of a majority, while ignoring the rules of justice. These complaints by factions are found by some degree to be true, and can only be solved by one of two methods: by removing its causes or by controlling its effects. To remove its causes would be to destroy liberty and to control its effects would be to give to every citizen the same opinions, passions, and interests.
However, both methods of solutions are found to be impractical and unwise. Madison describes the first remedy by stating, “Liberty is to faction what air is …show more content…

Madison states, “A rage for paper money, for an abolition of debts, for an equal division of property, or for any other improper or wicked project, will be less apt to pervade the whole body of the Union than a particular member of it; in the same proportion as such a malady is more likely to taint a particular county or district, than an entire State.” Therefore, with more individuals governing a larger group of people, it is less likely that a majority will be formed that would take away the rights of citizens, and if in fact a majority was formed with those views or goals, it would be difficult to implement those ideas. A large republic government has proved to be successful in the United States

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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.

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Virginia Ratifying Convention Essay

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Randolph expressed his concerns that the Constitution was implementing a one-man executive. He also admitted that the old Articles of Confederation were insufficient, but the new proposal of the Constitution presented a threat to the republican heritage. A republic was characterized by Thomas Jefferson as: “a government by its citizens in mass, acting directly and personally, according to rules established by the majority; and that every other government is more or less republican, in proportion as it has in its composition more or less of this ingredient of the direct action of the citizens. Such a government is evidently restrained to very narrow limits of space and population. I doubt if it would be practicable beyond the extent of a New England township.

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Madison's Views On Faction Summary

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The former is impossible, as any society is bound to have a majority of citizens who share common beliefs or ideas, and a minority of others who feel differently. This leaves only one option; to limit the authority of the majority and prevent them from dominating the minority. In order to prevent corruption or oppression, power must be distributed in a way that inhibits any one person or group from gaining too much of it. 4.) How does this essay by Madison tie into the separation of powers and checks and balances in the constitution?

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Constitutional Convention Dbq Research Paper

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“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands… may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” (Document B) The Madison quote shows that no person or persons should acquire all powers of the government otherwise it will become a tyranny. Hence our government is split into three branches, all with different powers, so that we may have a separation of powers to protect against tyranny. This separation of powers helps prevent one group from taking over the other two so that our country shall not be ruled by a tyrant

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A Rhetorical Analysis Of Federalist No. 51 By James Madison

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Primary source reading 7.4 is an excerpt from “Federalist NO. 51” which was written in 1788 by James Madison. This excerpt is actually an essay written by Madison and published in the New York Packet that explains how the federal government will not become too powerful as the people think, and trying to convince people to get the constitution ratified. Primary source reading 7.5 is an excerpt from “Observations on the New Constitution and the Federal and State Conventions by a Columbian Patriot” written by Mercy Otis Warren in 1788. This excerpt is actually a pamphlet that was published as well. In this pamphlet, Warren criticizes the Constitution for thinking the federal government will get too much power and tries to get the people to reject

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Studied Criticisms Of James Madison's Federalist 10

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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.

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Federalist 10 By James Madison Summary Chapter 10

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Federalist No. 10 by James Madison addresses the framers’ fear of factions that naturally come from a democracy. He begins by defining what a faction is, referring to the institution of factions in government as “mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished…” Factions, he says, are the biggest danger to governments everywhere because of the problem that arises from any group gaining power over any other group, destroying the democracy so sought after and replacing it with rule by the majority group. An obvious solution to solving the problem of factions is to abolish them in government.

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The Pros And Cons Of Having A Large Republic

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Without a large republic not only are you going to have the tyranny of the majority, but you are not going to have a unified country. If we become factionalized to the point where every person represents their own views we are going to be headed towards civil war quickly, and we are going to break up as a nation. By having a large republic and by having all of these voices silenced in their factions we can stay coherent. Madison comes to the conclusion we are not going to have a large enough faction to tear the nation apart, but he is wrong because different opinions will always exist as long as people are free and self-love exist. These factions are inevitably going to tear the nation apart.

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The Federalist No. 10 Argument

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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.

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Advantages Of Federalist 51

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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

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Discussion Of The Relationship Between The Founders And The Constitution

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With this quote, Madison describes the Founders’ intent to design a government which could self-balance and obstruct the majority’s monetary impulses. Specifically, the Founders believed that factions, groups of people united by common interests and passions, would quickly assemble and attempt to impose their will on the nation out of self-interest. Consequently, the Founders fashioned the Constitution with in-built roadblocks, separation of powers along with checks and balances, to pit factions against one another to slow down the government’s legislative abilities. For instance, the Founders created two houses within Congress to cause factions from multiple constituencies to check one another. As stipulated by the Constitution, small districts

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Supreme Courts Dbq

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Thus causing even more conflict, especially amongst those not in the South. Another controversial issue was federalism because Marshall gave the national government a vast amount of power over state 's rights, and Taney believed more in giving power to the state rather than the national government. In addition, this is when outside groups started forming and lobbying their influence over government decisions, whether it is pertaining to slavery, rights, or economic interests. James Madison regarded “factions” or interest groups with concern when authoring segments of the Federalist Papers. The problem he envisioned was that eliminating them from the political scene was a threat to democratic principles, a cure worse than the disease.

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Factions And Federalist Essay No. 10

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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.

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The Role Of Anti-Party Politics In Modern America

500 Words | 2 Pages

Madison, in federalist paper no. 10, said that “The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man,” and concluded that the best way to live with this fact is by restraining these factions. One of the best ways that this is accomplished is through the number of different groups themselves. In a small democracy, the whims of the majority could cause radical and harmful government choices. The organization of a large republic makes it difficult for any group to gain significant influence over the government. Not only this, but the checks and balances of the branches of government and the distance of lawmaking from the majority also slow a majority in government from making rash decisions.

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How Did Federalist 51 Impact Today's Government

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James Madison wrote Federalist 51 over 200 years ago, yet its words still impact today’s government in 2016. When writing Federalist 51, Madison had two main objectives in mind; he wanted a government with a separation of powers, and he also wanted minorities to be protected. Both of his objectives have been accomplished and continue to be present in today’s American government with the latter objective being more present in today’s government even more so than in the past. To begin with, power is separated in today’s government, preventing a single person or group from having absolute power since, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” according to John Dalberg-Acton. The American government is composed of three branches which power is separated amongst.

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