Federalist Readings: Why Does the US Government Work?

Why does the US government work? Or rather, how did they get a successful republic going when so many critics said it was impossible? What is it about our government that allows it to evade the inevitable challenges that such a government would be expected to face? James Madison’s Federalist Essays #10 and #51 provide insight into the workings of our government and the elements that allow its function and success, specifically the system of republic rather than pure democracy and the employment of checks and balances.

Of course, the most important objective of our own government in contrast to others in preceding it was the promotion of equal liberty, rights, and political power for each individual. However, Madison is quick to note that although we utilize the democratic notion of equality, we do not employ pure democracy in our government, but rather democratic republic. According to him, the advantage of a republic over a democracy is the election of representatives that advocate for the interests of a certain group. In a democracy, every man advocates for himself in the entire mass of the population, rendering him vulnerable to the persuasions of a faction that may be covertly pushing its own agenda. Given time and freedom, such a faction could gather enough support to form a majority and thus take over the government. In a republic, the population is broken down into separate groups that each address their own needs, avoiding the risk of an overly powerful majority faction. Madison praises the great size of our nation for allowing this feature of the government; although opponents of the creation of a republic in America initially argued that the country was too big to be governed by a functioning republic, he contends that the large size of our country is precisely the reason it can split into so many different factions of people with different interests and needs. A smaller population would be much more easily swayed, creating a higher risk of monopolization by a single party.

The other element of our government that allows it to be so just and functional is its system of checks and balances among different departments. Madison acknowledges that no government could function without some system of checking power, and again he credits the US’s large size with enabling us to divide the government into separate branches which control the population, themselves, and each other. The people give up some rights and freedoms to the government in exchange for their protection and organization, but this power is divided among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches to ensure that it is not abused. Thus, the government relies upon the people equally as much as the people rely on it.

In these ways, the US government uses its country's immense population and physical size to its advantage, both by allowing the people to divide into lots of little factions rather than a few big, powerful ones, and by dividing the government into separate departments which check and balance one another. Contrary to what one might think, all this dividing allows for a cohesive, functioning government which supports our country's success and prosperity as a union.