Similarities Between Federalist 10 And 51

Author James Madison wrote several of the Federalist Papers to support the new United States Constitution and explain how it accounted for the most ideal system of government. To gain support from the public, Madison and the other authors explained in these papers the benefits of the government set up by the Constitution and how it would represent the ideals agreed upon by the founding minds of the country. Especially in the Federalist 10 and 51, Madison outlines how the government best protects and secures liberty. Madison explains in the Federalist 10 that extending republics protects liberty by safeguarding the Union against factions; he continues to assert in the Federalist 51 that the government can also protect liberty by implementing checks and balances. In the Federalist 10 Madison identifies an extended

Madison first defines the “violence of faction” as he explains that governments often make decisions by the “superior force of an interested and overbearing majority” instead of according to the “rules of justice.” In framing this situation, he explains the issue that majority factions or parties in governments have, in the past, had the ability to rule without consideration of minority parties. Outlining possible solutions for this problem, Madison continues to explain that the causes of parties cannot be removed without destroying people’s freedom to make their own choices. This destruction would counter Madison’s purpose of removing factions in the first place, as it would inhibit people’s liberty. Using this logic, Madison asserts an inevitability to the formation of parties and thus concludes that the government must instead control their effects by either preventing “the same passion or interest in a majority” or controlling the “number and local situation” of the majority. Because a “common passion or interest” will inevitably arise in the majority in a pure democracy, Madison