James Madison And The Tenth Federalist Paper

2 Pages 600 Words

James Madison truly was a remarkable man. Intelligent, dutiful and possessed of a sense of civic duty that hasn’t been duplicated since his era. The tenth Federalist Paper is the perfect manifestation of all these qualities. If not for men of Madison’s vision, the United States might still be nothing more than an English investment colony. In this edition, Madison speaks out against the faction system and it’s place in American life. “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. The friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for their character and fate, as when he contemplates their propensity to this dangerous vice.” This is undoubtedly the case. Factions, or lobbies as they are referred to today, can oftentimes influence the decisions of lawmakers on the basis of public demand. How often are those decisions made at the cost of someone else’s privilege?

As for what can be done about the possible abuse of faction influence, Madison suggests two possibilities, “There are two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects.” Madison goes further to explain, “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.“ Madison knew that neither if these was practical. The American colonists had fought so long for liberty that to even suggest denial of that right would amount to blasphemy. The other option would destroy America’s greatest strength, its diversity. It appeared to Madison that the causes then could not cured by removing the causes, but that the answer must lay in controlling its effects.

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