ipl-logo

Madison's Strongest Argument In Favor Of The Constitution

553 Words3 Pages

Madison’s strongest argument in favor of the constitution is that an established government is capable of controlling the violence in factions. A faction is a number of citizens that are united by a common interest to protect and promote their political opinions as Madison puts it. Madison argues that factions are inevitable and deeply woven into human nature. The only way to remove factions would be to remove any diversity in the amounts of wealth, property, and opinion, which is impossible. This leads to property rights and where they originate from. The protection of those[property] rights are put first in the government, but there was still a problem; unequal distribution of property. Madison feared it would then cause an economic faction, therefore, helping them promote their own interest and causing conflict between the rich and poor. This gets Madison thinking. …show more content…

He wanted to create a government that didn’t have the power to destroy the freedoms that they were protecting. He argues that a government shouldn’t try to control negative effects of factions when addressing problems. He came up with two points about democracy and republic and the differences between them. Madison came to the conclusion that a republic would be better for controlling the factions and a pure democracy wouldn’t.
The Federalist 10 and Chapter 3 in my A.P Government book have a connection when talking about the federal republic. Chapter 3 is basically a two sentence summary of his two thoughts. They both explain the “new plan” and the Constitution. Explaining the pros of becoming a federal republic and how the Constitution is a benefit and not a regret. Madison says that a republic allows people that citizens elect into office choose what’s best for the country and the Constitution keeps the elected officials in

Show More
Related
1255 Words | 6 Pages

Madison argues that there are only two ways of controlling factions: by removing its causes or controlling its effects. In addition, there are two methods of removing the causes of factions: destroying liberties or giving every citizen the same passions and interests. The framers established a representative form of government, a government in which the many elect the few who govern. Direct democracies cannot control factious conflicts because the majority faction dominates, and there is no way to protect minority factions against the actions of a strong majority. Direct democracies cannot effectively protect personal and property rights and have always been characterized by

Read More
403 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More
1418 Words | 6 Pages

He believed the local state assemblies abused their powers, only spoke for their local interest, changed their membership constantly, and enacted unjust laws. He believed ratifying the Constitution to a strong central government was the only option for the young country to succeed. Madison adopted David Hume’s idea, a strong republican government might perform better in a large setting rather that a small one. He convinced the American public of this idea through a series called the Federalist Papers. Madison thought a citizen’s rights were more protected with a central government rather than a local state government.

Read More
565 Words | 3 Pages

James Madison wanted to prevent tyranny so he framed a new Constitution because the Articles of Confederation wasn’t working. This constitution will include federalism, separation of powers, check and balances, and having the power of larger and smaller states balanced. Federalism is one way the constitution guards against tyranny. Federalism the powers given to states and central government and what powers they share.

Read More
501 Words | 3 Pages

1.) What does Madison mean by the term “Faction”? What is a modern term we would use today? Madison uses the term faction to refer to groups of individuals arguing not for the rights or good of the community as a whole, but rather that which would benefit those who hold similar positions or interests. Different factions represent different ideas, leading to conflict and debate.

Read More
442 Words | 2 Pages

“Madison, after undertaking an extensive study of other world governments, came to the conclusion that America needed a strong federal government in order to help regulate the state legislatures and create a better system for raising federal money” (history.com). The Virginia Plan Madison presented to the Congress was so successful, we still use it today. It is very important that Madison created this system of government because if the Continental Congress put another defective government plan into action, the people would no longer trust the group to lead

Read More
343 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
1265 Words | 6 Pages

(Johnson, 156). Believing that liberty was essential even if it produced factions; that abolishing it would be comparable to abolishing air because it’s essential to fire. Of the second remedy he states that if men are free to think, they will naturally have different opinions, desires, and interests (Johnson, 156). It is through this idea of differences of opinions that Madison states that “The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man” (Johnson, 156).

Read More
1113 Words | 5 Pages

Madison emphasized the dangers of factions and warned the division of citizen would cause the government to collapse. He stressed the creation of faction would create a dominant majority or an overwhelming wealthy minority that would ultimately control the

Read More
978 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
371 Words | 2 Pages

James Madison was worried that the Constitution wouldn’t be strong enough to bring the states together. The revolutionary war that had ended a few years before, caused him to fear that the people would rebel. He didn't want people to rebel, but he also didn't want tyranny. A tyrant is “one supreme ruler who takes all the power for himself or herself.” He didn't want to have a tyrant

Read More
688 Words | 3 Pages

James Madison starts this most popular of the Federalist papers by explaining that one of the toughest arguments in favor of the constitution is the principal that it establishes a government able to control the disturbance and damage made by factions. James Madison describes factions as groups of individuals in communities who gather around together in unity to promote and protect their special economic interests as well as political opinions. Even though these factions exhibit differences as well as distinguishing marks that separate them from each other, they constantly and continue work towards the public interest which gains support from inhabitants within those factions. And at times might infringe upon the social and communal rights

Read More
589 Words | 3 Pages

“... But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others.” In more simpler terms, Madison believed that no part of government should have more power than another. In order to do so, the Constitution talked about how checks and balances would solve that problem by each branch of governemnt checking on how the others are doing and making sure everything is in balance. The reason this is needed is because during the times of the Articles of Confederation, Americans believed that only a

Read More
774 Words | 4 Pages

James Madison, one of the founding fathers of America, was revolutionary in his ideas regarding American government and policies. James Madison, along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, wrote arguably the most crucial evaluations of the future of American government and the logic of the newly improved US Constitution compared to the Articles of Confederation. Within Federalist Paper No.10, Madison mentions a groundbreaking idea of the “tyranny of the majority.” This idea, “tyranny of the majority,” examines the power that a majority can hold within a true democracy. Furthermore, this “tyranny of the majority” idea looks into the creation of “factions,” which Madison describes as a group of citizens with shared interests or beliefs that are contrary to the rights and interests of others or to the overall well-being of a community.

Read More
562 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Madison's Strongest Argument In Favor Of The Constitution

Related Topics

Open Document