Federalist Articles 10 and 51

Federalist Article 10:

"From this view of the subject it may be concluded that a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction"

In this quote, James Madison argues that a pure democracy would never work to fix the problems in a government because they do not work in large societies and representation in not spread widely enough to account for all the views of each person in that society. In a democracy, majorities are often formed in the group of elected citizens, and options other than the majority are not often considered because majority always rules. This can lead to problems when not every person, city and state are accounted for. In a republic, there are elected citizens representing their own region, so the government can be assured that everyone is accounted for. This way, republics will be much for successful for larger societies, which is why the American government is so successful.

" Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens; or if such a common motive exists, it will be more difficult for all who feel it to discover their own strength, and to act in unison with each other."

As I said previously, when a government considers the interests of all people and parties, they can then make a more justified decision based on the wants and needs for each citizen. When decisions are not based upon a simple majority, but rather reached by discussions and debate among those being affected, the states will become stronger and more unified with one another. America has a government like this, which is why it is so successful.

Federalist Article 51:

"In a single republic, all the power surrendered by the people is submitted to the administration of a single government; and the usurpations are guarded against by a division of the government into distinct and separate departments."

In American government, there are three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The legislative branch regulates addition or subtraction of laws, the executive brach enforces the laws, and the judicial branch are the judges and supreme court, who decide whether people are breaking the laws or not. These separation of powers allows the American government to easily regulate the laws and put more focus into their area of expertise, which helps maintain stability.

" ... where the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other -- that the private interest of every individual may be a sentinel over the public rights"

Along with separation of powers, these three branches of government are involved in checks and balances. This means that each branch of government keeps an eye on the other two, to see if they are participating in illegal activities or are doing something wrong. This way, the branches can monitor each other and maintain a stable government.