Federalist #10

Learning Outcomes

• Define a political faction and identify factions in contemporary society

• Understand the problems that shaped the Founders thought when creating the new US Constitution

• Explain how a democratic republic provides safeguards against factions

Influence of Ancient Democracies

• The Founders believed that by looking back at the history of the ancient democracies of Rome and Greece, they could learn from past mistakes and prevent the new United States democracy from becoming infected by the problems that destroyed past societies.

The Parthenon, symbol of Greek Democracy

Problem of Tyranny

• Democracies and Republics are generally short-lived and prone to majorities establishing a dictatorship

Julius Caesar, “Veni, vedi, vici.” “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

Problem of Conspiracy

• Reading Herodotus, Plutarch and Livy’s histories of the ancient world revealed to the Founding Fathers that conspiracy in government, is not the exception but the rule.

• Philosopher and Statesmen Marcus Tullius Cicero 106 BC-43 BC

Federalist #10 Reading Questions

• What is a faction and why are they formed?

• According to Madison what are the chief causes of faction?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcWaCsvpikQ

• By a faction, I mean a group of citizens, either a majority or minority, united by some passion or interest adverse to the rights or other citizens or to the aggregate interests of the community.

Factions

Why are factions to be feared?

• Self-love is an inherent aspect of human nature. People are:– Selfish– Biased– Often overcome with

emotion– Often do unreasonable

things

• Groups can amplify all of these bad tendencies.

Dangers of Factions

• Even the most virtuous citizens, “complain our (democratic) governments are too unstable. They say the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties. Too often measures are decided by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority rather than the rules of justice and the rights of the minority party.”

James Madison, author of Federalist #10

Dangers Continued

• When a faction gains political power, it is likely to:– Pursue its own

interests zealously.– Trample the rights

of others.– Govern without

concern for the “public good.”

What can be done to remedy factions?

• There are two possibilities:1.Take steps to stop factions from forming

2.Accept factions and take steps to keep them from gaining too much political power

Air is to Fire• Destroy the liberty essential for it to

exist of give every citizen the same opinions, passions, and interests.

• The first remedy is worse than a disease. Liberty is to faction what air is to fire. Without the nourishment of liberty, faction instantly dies. But abolishing liberty, an essential of political life, is as silly as the wish to annihilate air, as essential of animal life, because it gives fire its destructive agency.

Equal Passions• The second cure is as

impractical as the first is unwise. As long as man’s reasoning remains fallible and he’s free to use it, different opinions will be formed. As long as self-love exists, opinions and passions will influence each other.

• Property Rights – The Diversity of Property ownership divides societies into groups with different interests and concerns.

Inherent in Human Nature

• Therefore, faction is part of the very nature of man. We see different degrees of it in different circumstances. Differing opinions in religion and government in both theory and practice, the various ambitions of leaders, human passions, and diversity of interests have, at various times, divided mankind into parties and inflamed animosity, making them more apt to oppress each other than cooperate for their common good.

• The obvious inference is that the causes of faction cannot be removed and relief can only be sought in the means of controlling its effects.

Second Set of Questions

• Why can’t a pure democracy control factions?

• According to the Madison what are the benefits of a Republic in controlling factions?

• Is the size of the United States a safeguard against faction?

Majority Factions

• If a faction isn’t a majority, relief comes from the republican principle that enables the majority to defeat the sinister views by vote. When a faction is a majority, popular government enables it to sacrifice public good and the rights of other citizens to their passions and interests.

Pure Democracy

• Pure Democracies are always spectacles of turbulence and contention.

• The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, in a republic a small number of delegate are elected by the rest of the citizens, secondly, a republic can be composed of a greater number of citizens over a larger country.

Representation

• Representation refines and enlarges public views by passing them through the chosen body of citizens.

• The representatives’ wisdom may discern the true interest of their country and their patriotism and love of justice will make it less likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations.

Senator Robert La Follette of Wisconsin, ran for president in 1912 campaigning against World War I.

Small Nations

• The smaller the society, the fewer the distinct parties and interests, and the more frequently they will be a majority. The smaller the number of individuals composing a majority and the smaller area they inhabit, the more easily will they combine and execute their plans of oppression.

Expand the Size

• Expand the size adds a greater variety of parties and interest. It becomes les probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens.

• Even if a common motive exists, it will be more difficult for those holding it to discover their combined strength and act in unison with each other.

Laboratories of Democracy

• Factious leaders may kindle a flame within their specific States, while not able to spread a general conflagration through the other States. A religious sect may degenerate a political faction in a part of the Confederacy. But the varied sects dispersed over the entire country secures the national councils against danger from this source.