Please answer question 1 only. Part Three: Essay 40 points) One the exam, you ca
ID: 3581362 • Letter: P
Question
Please answer question 1 only.
Explanation / Answer
Explain and evaluate James madison's argument about factions. what is faction. how does representative democracy and a large, heterogeneous society help deal with the problem of action? What do you think of his argument?
Answer: James Madison wrote the Federalist Papers under the penname Publius. Publius Valerius Publicola, was the first republican statesmen of ancient Rome. He helped to overthrow the last king of Rome.
The Federalist Papers were a series of 85 essays written by Publius with the goal of convincing the pivotal states of New York and Virginia to ratify the new U.S. Constitution, drafted after the failure of the Articles of Confederation.
Federalist 10 which was written by Madison: is the best known of the essays. It continues the discussion of a question first broached in Federalist 9 which was written by Hamilton: how to address the destructive role of faction in popular government i.e., a political society where the people rule.
Madison believed that factions operate in their own interest and ignore the rights of other citizens and/or the interest of the community.
Madison defined, faction is a number of citizens, whether a majority or minority, who are united and activated “by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.”
Madison does not suggest that all political groups are factions rather faction is a group of citizens with interests that are contrary to the rights of others or the interests of the community as a whole.
To remove the causes of faction, destroy the liberty that allows for differences of opinion or give every citizen the same opinions, passions, and interests.
Madison feared that various economic factions might band together and attempt to subvert the law to promote their own interests.
In a democracy, where the poor are more numerous, they might plunder the wealthy few. Alternatively, the rich might use their political power to exploit the poor.
Madison warns against relying on impartial and “enlightened statesmen” to solve the problem. We must assume that less disinterested leaders will sometimes occupy the seats of power. Thus, a “system” of government is needed to take the place of enlightened individuals. In this system, no man should be a judge in his own plight.
People who judge cases of which they are a part cannot be trusted. The system of government must act to limit the power of all players and, thereby, limit the power of the government itself.
How to address the problem of factions? If the causes of faction cannot be removed.
Madison said, we must try to control the negative effects of faction.
Minority factions can be controlled by the majority, and are thus not a threat to civil society.
However, if a faction is or becomes a majority, it can threaten the legitimate rights of the minority. Majority faction, then, is the biggest threat to popular government.
A “pure democracy”—where every citizen gets to vote on every issue—is especially susceptible to majority faction. In order to work, direct democracies must be small, making it easier for a majority faction to arise and to influence government.
This leads Madison to his solution to the problem of faction: republican government.
Republican government has two advantages:
1) Representatives can help to “Refine and enlarge the public views”.
2) Republics can be larger than pure democracies, making it more difficult for a majority faction to emerge.
This latter solution (called the “enlargement of the orbit” in Federalist 9) is Madison’s most novel argument.
A larger population makes it more difficult for a corrupt candidate to woo a large number of voters by devious means.
A more expansive country ensures that local or statewide biases do not spread to other parts of the country.
A large number of representatives, from different parts of the country, and who are held accountable by frequent elections, will have a difficult time conspiring together to the detriment of the people they represent and the country as a whole.
Political struggle will be moderated not by moral and religious instruction aimed at making citizens more moderate and virtuous, but instead by the moderating effects of multiplicity and the requirements of effective commercial activity.