"Why does the American form of government work?"

Federalist Paper #10 discusses the threat of factions in a republic.  Factions are dangerous to the government because they can dominate it or come to a stale mate and have nothing get done.  Despite these fears, James Madison claims that large factions will not pose a threat if "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."  So basically, it is virtually impossible for one faction to dominate the government because it needs to be both really big, and have each member share a unified agenda.  The bigger the faction, the more difficult it is to have everyone share the  exact same differences.  If there are varied opinions in a faction, there is no way for it force its ideas onto the minority simply because there are so many different ideas and at some point, they must contradict each other.  It is because of this idea that the majority rule in the United States has worked effectively while at the same time respecting the rights of the minority.

Madison describes the revolutionary incorporation of the system of checks and balances.  Simply put, checks and balances are powers that enable the branches of government to make sure that one of them doesn't become too powerful.  This paper also discusses a little on the topic of consent of the governed.  Madison states that “It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices [checks and balances] should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?... In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”  Essentially, Madison tries to make known that checks and balances are used to make sure that individual branches of the government don't get too powerful.  However, if the government itself becomes to powerful, the people have the right to check the government, that is what we know as consent of the governed.  The government rules over the people, but only because the people allow it to.  In return, the government must adhere to the laws that the people put in place to keep the government honest.  These concepts of rule of law, consent of the governed and checks and balances are why the American form of government works so well.