The Federalist Articles #10 and #51

In The Federalist: No. 10, James Madison argues that a society would crumble due to the existences of factions within a government. Factions are created by the thousands of differences between people, from salary to housing to political groups. These small discrepancies can cause huge gaps between people. However, in the American government there are many ways of controlling these gaps. For example, the government does their best to find compromises in situations as to not create major conflicts.  Tax breaks are a way that they currently separate people based on earnings in order to fairly tax everyone a reasonable amount. Another way that the American government is by controlling violence. They are in charge of the legality of crimes and the punishment that will be enforced upon the offender. By doing this they are showing their power and also setting an example to others that are definite consequences to actions. This creates a more peaceful environment for people in separate factions. Overall, the US government uses their understanding of the differences in factions to create a functioning system.

No. 51 of The Federalist, Madison explains the importance of independence of the branches of government and the reliance they have on one another. The three branches, legislative, judicial, and executive, all rely on one another to appoint or determine salaries for each other. The reasons that these powers have been granted to other branches is into keep the balance between them. This has proven to be very practical in the American government. because all the branches know that based on their decisions for the others their lives will be affected, so everyone is always sure to make fair choices. The American system allows for this to happen because it would be unreasonable to give all these options to the people, as it would be in a true democracy, because people would not be well enough informed to make the right decisions in many cases. Especially involving the judicial branches, because the judges need to be impartial, but people would tend to vote for people that sided in the same ways as their own opinions.  All in all, it is paramount that the branches of government are independent, because it allows for balance in America.

Summary of Federalist 10 & 51

Essentially, Madison begins by arguing that only a strong government can overcome the power of factions. He believes in majority rule and minority rights, but does not believe that a direct democracy can prevent factions from coming into and subsequently abusing their power. He believed that there needed to be some kind of 'barrier' between the easily susceptible masses and the government itself.

Madison did not, however, believe that factions should not be allowed to exist. He thought that they had the right to exist and exist actively but that their power and influence should be curbed.

The American government, in short, worked because it was strong enough to defend itself against any one group who became too power hungry. Madison briefly covers the idea of checks and balances as he writes, "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 the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself."

Madison believed that the only way America's government could succeed was through a strong, yet balanced government.

Federalist #10 & 51

In Federalist Essay #10, James Madison writes about different political parties could be very bad for the government. He says that a democratic republic is the best fit for government. "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, he means that if one large group of people all share the same beliefs, their opinions will overpower the minorities in the democracy. He says,"If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote."He says that if one faction is trying to vote something by that is bad, the majority of people that are good will not allow it to happen.

In Federalist Essay #51, James Madison writes about how the new government should be set up. Like Britain, he says that each branch should have a series of checks and balances on the other so that no one branch can overpower the other two to make decisions. Madison says that, "We see it particularly displayed in all the subordinate distributions of power, 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." Each one of the branches of government can cancel out the power of a branch as others can to it. Because of these checks and balances, all of the branches are neutral, and no one branch is any more important or powerful than another. He also says," The remedy for [not having branches with equal powers] is to divide the legislature into different branches; and to render them, by different modes of election and different principles of action, as little connected with each other as the nature of their common functions and their common dependence on the society will admit." He means to have multiple legislative branches that have nothing to do with one another to be able to evenly distribute the power throughout the legislative branch.

Federalist Papers #10 & 51

Why the US government works?

Number 10
     "There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.

It could never be more truly said than of the first remedy, that it was worse than the disease. Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency."

In this Madison discusses how factions can undermine the government and should therefore be destroyed by means of taking away their liberty. However taking away the peoples liberties will not solve the problem but rather takes away the liberties of everyone else and that would be bad. Therefore a government in which the liberties of people in factions are taken away would not work. This is unlike the American government because the American government handles factions but in a way that is proactive and doesn't take away liberties. This ability allows the government to function because the people who undermine it are eliminated without hurting the whole country. 

"The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest; secondly, the greater number of citizens, and greater sphere of country, over which the latter may be extended.

The effect of the first difference is, on the one hand, to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations."

In this Madison says that a government that is a republic is better because it can minimize the effects of factions. It does this by having all the wants of the people go through one enlightened person who will then think and act for the greater good. Meanwhile Democracies are not as good because then you run into the risk of the a faction becoming the majority which can lead to laws that benefit the members of the faction rather than for the greater good.

Number 51
"Some deviations, therefore, from the principle must be admitted. In the constitution of the judiciary department in particular, it might be inexpedient to insist rigorously on the principle: first, because peculiar qualifications being essential in the members, the primary consideration ought to be to select that mode of choice which best secures these qualifications; secondly, because the permanent tenure by which the appointments are held in that department, must soon destroy all sense of dependence on the authority conferring them."

This talks about the necessity of having appointed Judiciary judges. It is easier and faster to have one person appoint people to the positions because the person picking knows the qualities needed better than if the average people were voting for the appointed. It is also better because due to the position being life long the appointed judge will not feel allegiance to the person who appointed them. This is like how in America the president will elect the supreme court judges.

 "It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. 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."

This argues that the way in which we set up our government (3 branches) demonstrates human tendency towards corruption. By having a government at all we are saying that humans can not function without the direct control of others. We then took this government and broke it up as to assure that no one person would try and take too much power showing the human tendency to selfish and corrupt ways. We realized that the government was controlled by men and therefore we had to split up power because men are human who need to be checked. Just as the government checks the people it must also check itself. 

Why does the American form of government work?

           According to federalist articles no. 10 and no. 51, both written by James Madison, factions are the biggest problem a government has to deal with and can be eliminated by destroying the faction or by destroying its effect. Factions are groups of people with a common interest such as the wealthy or the poor. Each will group up making every individual's idea amplified with strength and publicity. Madison believes that a direct democracy is not a good form of government because it allows the majority factions to treat the minority functions badly, focusing on their factions benefit only. On the other hand, he argues that a republic, only a large one, would be able to eliminated the problem the factions are causing. The reason for this is that not only does a republic limit the power of the people so the majority faction can't rule over the minority faction, but also by having a large amount of people, the effect of majority and minority is drastically reduced, for more people means more factions and more factions means less power for each faction. The American government fits the perfectly into Madison's description of a large Republic and works flawlessly for the reasons he stated.

Why does the American form of government work?

Why does the American form of government work? In order to determine the answer to this question, more so one of the many possible answers, one must first define the American form of government. It turns out, there are many ways to define this, as well. Besides being a federal government serving the people of the 50 states of America, it can be described as a democracy, republic, justice system, or system to achieve equality, the same concept taking form in many different names. Just as the government itself can be seen from different perspectives, there are countless viewpoints as to how the government as a federation is successful. In The Federalist Articles, James Madison shares his insight (Article No. 10 & 51).

In Article No. 10, James Madison shares his view on the government and how to achieve success. After reading the article, I find myself reflecting on what Madison would have hoped to achieve, and what policies exist today. The one that stands out the most to me is the fact that each and every group of individuals "have ever formed distinct interests in society". Reflecting on this, I believe this is what makes the US government successful. With various opinions and interests constantly circulating society, bad and good things come. One benefit, perhaps a disadvantage to some, is that the government can view the interests of the people. Highlighting this as one of the many good things, when a government can view the interests of the people, justice can be better served: the government is able to make more informed and widely pleasing decisions with the good of the people in mind. Madison also points out how "The influence of [elected officials] may kindle a flame within their particular state..." but as Madison later explains, the flame cannot spread because there are numerous elected officials representing other states. With the governing officials being elected in the government we know today, more of the population is represented through voting, also contributing to Americas success.

In Article No. 51, Madison states "...the interior structure of the government... keeping each other in their proper places...[is] essential to the preservation of liberty..." To a great extent, I agree with Madison. While evaluating the system of checks and balances, one must consider to what extent the system has made our American form of government succeed; in my opinion, the system has greatly contributed to the success. With so many different systems in play, one individual system cannot get so much power that it is the only decision maker. This allows for a balanced and well-rounded government that works for the good of many people rather than just hearing the voice of one specific group. This connects to another idea in the same article where Madison states, points out "...a dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government...". The US government works because those being governed accept governing and those governing assume dependence on those being governed. The two-way reliance allows for a functional and reliable federal government.

In his essay Federalist No, 10, James Madison makes the case for the founding father's choice of a democratic republic as a political system.  Specifically, he attempts to demonstrate why this form of government is superior to a direct democracy, that is, one in which each person votes on every.  The argument he makes for republicanism is based on his concept of "factions".  In short, a faction is a group of people with a different opinion than another group of people.  Obviously, this difference in opinion can easily lead to conflict.  Madison states this:

"If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote. It may clog the administration, it may convulse the society; but it will be unable to execute and mask its violence under the forms of the Constitution. When a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens."

In essence, he is arguing that the republican principle of majority rule, minority rights is the best way to prevent factions.  He then goes on to posit that a direct democracy would have no way of dealing with this issue.  He writes:

"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. A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert result from the form of government itself; and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual."


Federalist Paper No. 51 deals with the importance of separation of powers.  Madison is a major supporter of the idea that giving one group of people a large amount of power would inevitably lead to corruption and tyranny.  He proposes to achieve this departmentalization via a three-branch system, the same as is still used today.  This breaks the government into three separate bodies, the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.  Each is responsible for a separate part of governance, but they must all work together to allow the government to run smoothly.  However, even he admits it is not perfect:

"But it is not possible to give to each department an equal power of self-defense. In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this inconveniency is to divide the legislature into different branches; and to render them, by different modes of election and different principles of action, as little connected with each other as the nature of their common functions and their common dependence on the society will admit. It may even be necessary to guard against dangerous encroachments by still further precautions. As the weight of the legislative authority requires that it should be thus divided, the weakness of the executive may require, on the other hand, that it should be fortified."

He recommends alleviating this issue by doing two things: first, implementing a bicameral legislature, which damps the power of the legislative branch, and secondly by granting special powers to the executive branch, without which it could be too easily ignored.  Finally, Madison returns to his concept of factions with the following:

"It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. Different interests necessarily exist in different classes of citizens. If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure. There are but two methods of providing against this evil: the one by creating a will in the community independent of the majority -- that is, of the society itself; the other, by comprehending in the society so many separate descriptions of citizens as will render an unjust combination of a majority of the whole very improbable, if not impracticable."

He states that the best way to prevent an abuse of the minority by the majority is to implement equal civil rights for all people.  He is here expanding his previous concept of seperation of powers in government to the whole of the human race, and in doing so is demonstrating a level of wisdom far ahead of amny of his contemporaries.