The Federalist Paper No. 10 Summary

The Federalist Paper No. 10 Summary Factions - a small, organized, dissenting group within a larger one, especially in politics. 1. Given the nature of man, factions are inevitable. Men will always have different opinions, amounts of wealth and amount of property. 2. In which they will fraternize with those who are most similar to them 3. Initially states a. that one of the strongest arguments in favor of the Constitution is the fact that it establishes a government capable of controlling the violence and damage caused by factions Controlling Factions 1. To Madison there were only two ways a. Remove its causes i. This is not possible because there are only two ways to remove the causes of a faction: 1. destroy liberty or give every citizen the same opinions, passions, and interests ii. destroyed liberty would be worse than disease itself and the second is impractical b. And to control its effects i. The causes of factions are part of the nature of man so we must deal with them ii. The government created by the Constitution controls the damage caused by such factions Government to control factions 1. Framers established a representative form of government a. a government in which the many elect the few who govern 2. Pure or direct democracies cannot control factious conflicts a. Because the strongest and largest faction dominated, and there is no way to protect weak factions against the actions of an obnoxious or a strong majority b. Direct democracies cannot effectively protect personal and property rights and spur conflict 3. (national elections) Men who are members of particular factions, or who have prejudices or evil motives might manage, by intrigue or corruption, to win elections and then betray the interests of the people. a. However, the possibility of this happening in a large country, such as the United States, is greatly reduced, since it’s harder to deceive a larger amount of people Goal of the constitution 1. Wanted to bring the present 13 states into a secure union 2. Madison theorizes that self-interested people will join factions Notes Self Interest 1. Madison tell us the people are self-interested and this is human nature 2. Madison theorizes that self-interested people will join factions a. And people will create factions that opposes one another’s i. And this leads to conflict ii. States the factional conflict is easy to start iii. And that conflict is inevitable Factional Conflict 1. Madison states that we can remove its causes a. By removing liberty i. Said removing liberty is worse than disease itself b. Or by giving everybody the same interests, same passions and ideals i. This is simply impractical 2. Or by controlling its effects 3. Madison also states that conflict could even be a good thing a. Because conflict is evidence of the liberty being given to the people b. Conflict also breads sides interchanging ideals and viewpoints c. Conflict causes problems to surface, ensuing change d. Conflict causes people to become interested in problems because conflict can be seen as entertainment 4. Legitimacy a. A policy that comes out will be more accepted if its created by those who have the majority on their side i. And people of the minority are more likely to accept it since the majority accepts it (conformity) Control 1. Madison doesn’t like pure democracy because it results in the tyranny of the majority a. Where essentially the minority losses their liberty and their voices aren’t’ heard 2. He then insists that a representative republic would be more beneficial for a society a. Says he a large republic would be best i. That way everybody is able to get in on conflict 3. Madison wants the representative you elect to relay your viewpoint 4. Trustee a. Elect to make judgments on your behalf 5. Delegate a. A puppet 6. Madison wants these representatives to be more like Trustees a. Says the representatives of the people would make wiser decisions than the people themselves 7. Madison wants to make sure that the legislature won’t get captured by a single factions a. Wants a legislature big enough that it won’t get captured by factions 8. A larger republic is good so that a single faction can’t take over