The Federalist Papers 10 and 51: Main Idea
The Federalist Papers 10 and 51: Main Idea
How to Create a Goldilocks Republic
Both Federalist Papers 10 and 51 deal with how to make a government that's strong, but not too strong—basically, like the perfect Buffalo wing.
Federalist Paper 10 starts by pointing out that majority rule is kind of inherently chaotic. As nice as it sounds, using a simple majority to make difficult political decisions can lead to disaster when the people voting might not necessarily know the issues completely. Or, sometimes, not at all.
This can crash democracies straight into the wall—and it has in the past. By having a representative democracy, not only can ideas be looked over by qualified office holders, but the chance that one majority group will get a stranglehold on politics is also kicked down.
Along those lines, Federalist 51 states that the US Government will be composed of three branches, as each branch will keep the other from having too much power. Not only will the branches be entirely self-sufficient, but each will have some kind of power over the other. Since people aren't perfect, governments need to put all that explosive dictatorial power on the top shelf…where the people running the government can't reach.
Questions
- Why would the legislative branch naturally be strongest branch of the government—what necessarily makes it stronger than either the executive or legislative branch?
- Why does Madison think a Supreme Court Justice shouldn't be elected by popular vote?
- Do you agree with him, or do you think they should be elected another way?
- Why doesn't Madison think a true democracy can be trusted?
- What does that imply about what he thought about popular movements in the United States?
Chew On This
In writing the Federalist Papers, James Madison was not only trying to win over the state legislatures in general, but specifically to address the concerns of the incredibly vocal Anti-Federalists who distrusted Federal power just as much as we distrust products from infomercials.
James Madison's intense distrust of the power of political factions as mentioned in Federalist Paper 10 might have a lot to do with Daniel Shay's rebellion, where impoverished farmers clashed against wealthy Boston merchants in the largest-scale rebellion in the United States since the Revolutionary War. When he wrote about faction conflict, it was likely that the readers of this Federalist Paper had that particular throwdown in the back of their minds.
Quotes
Quote #1
AMONG the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction. (10.1)
Controlling faction-power seemed to be an incredibly hot-button issue at the time, for Madison to say it is the main power of a well-made Union. Which factions was Madison concerned with having too much power?
Quote #2
It is in vain to say that enlightened statesmen will be able to adjust these clashing interests, and render them all subservient to the public good. Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm. (10.9)
Madison is being pragmatic about the need to make a government that can effectively keep corruption down. However, underneath you can read flashes of a distrust with what he views as the worst parts of a Democracy.
Quote #3
The other point of difference is, the greater number of citizens and extent of territory which may be brought within the compass of republican than of democratic government; and it is this circumstance principally which renders factious combinations less to be dreaded in the former than in the latter. (10.20)
This is an interesting thing to bring up as a benefit of a Republic. Residents of the 13 states were, at the time, looking hungrily at the Ohio River Valley to the west, which was Native American territory barred from them by the British's treaty with its residents. Now that Great Britain was out of the picture, you can picture the United States licking its lips at the thought of expansion.
Quote #4
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. (51.3)
This one concern is at the heart of the struggle between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, and is one idea that they have in common. The Anti-Federalists think the government must be weak in order for its power not to be abused, while the Federalists think that a strong government can be structured in such a way that it can control itself.
Quote #5
Second. 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. (51.6)
Here's where the theme of Federalist Paper 10 is reflected in Federalist Paper 51. Not only can we reason from this that they were likely written by the same author, but also its reemergence here underlines Madison's concerns about mob rule. The majority faction he's probably worried about is the poor, who he thinks would turn on the wealthy few in a heartbeat, given the chance.