Daniel J. Boorstin's Analysis

Madison’s primary focus throughout the beginning of this paper is factions. He holds a deep disdain for them as he thinks that they solely focus on themselves, while hurting other Americans, which is evident in this quote, (“…united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the

“You make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens; or if such a common motive exists, it will be more difficult for all who feel it to discover their own strength, and to act in unison with each other. Besides other impediments, it may be remarked that, where there is a consciousness of unjust or dishonorable purposes, communication is always checked by distrust in proportion to the number whose concurrence is necessary.”

In “Federalist #10”, Madison describes the dangerous effects that factions can have on Republican government and on its people. Madison defines a faction as a group of citizens who unite under a shared cause, and work against other groups in order to achieve their means. Their means of achieving their goals may achieve adverse effects upon the rights of other citizens. Put in more modern terms, a faction could be reasonably compared to a special-interest group. The sort of faction that most endangers the liberty inherent in United States society are factions that contain a majority of the whole. The weakness of a popular government is its susceptibility to the effects of factions. However, a well-constructed Union provides numerous

It is generally understood that the United States is built upon the principles of democracy, in which the majority consensus of the citizens helps to define the shape of issues or elections. However, in assuming that the Constitution - the document upon which such practices are founded – is inherently democratic is only partially accurate. Indeed, it has been frequently argued that the U. S. Constitution is representative of the rule of law from a federation as opposed to a pure democracy; in a federation, elections occur among the majority of the citizenry but this process results in elected officials who then determine the direction of the country. In short, a federation

James Madison wrote The Federalist No. 10 to inform the people about the problems and possible solutions for the formation of factions. Through multiple statements concerning the dangers of factions and the benefits of a republic, Madison’s major argument was in favor of the United States Constitution. Madison defined a faction as "A number of citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion or interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community." (Madison p. 1) Factions can be compared to the modern day lobby group; or as groups of people with a common self-interest. These groups are only involved for

In today’s society, we see many examples of James Madison’s explicit view on American political culture. Everyone in America, from the time that they have been born, has been placed into factions. Newborns are put into daycare facilities based on their parent’s income and parental beliefs. Students, throughout their entire academic career, have volunteered to become part of at least one faction. Some students stay after school for art club, French club, guitar club, or a select few even stay after for student council. The students select the student council members, by having fellow classmates’ sign the petition form that each individual member must get signed in order to become a representative. At the meetings, the student council might have enough money to only sponsor one after school activity, so they

Dangers of factions mentioned by Madison in Federalist #10 and Washington's warning about the "baneful effects of the spirit of party."

The Federalist Papers Number 10 is written by James Madison and explains the necessity of the Constitution to protect our country from factions. A faction is “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent aggregate interests of the community (Publius, 72).” Publius states that there are two ways to get rid of factions. The first way to eliminate a faction is to take the Liberty away from all of the people in the faction. The other way to cure a faction is to give everyone the same opinion. Both of this solutions are not possible

Washington saw the countries dividing along political lines, and foresaw endangers of partisan affecting national unity. He urged the American people to avoid political parties, believing that it would lead to the “ruins of public liberty (50).” He strongly believed that the political parties had “served to distract… [and] agitate the Community will ill-founded jealousies and false alarms (51).” Washington exposed the intentions of political parties by saying, “The alternate domination” of one party over another will lead to a “frightful despotism (49).” In other words, hyperpartisan, influenced by a revenge seeking spirit, will hand over trust and absolute power to the

In addition, Madison defined that a faction is an amount of people, whether a popular or smaller, who are combined and motivated by nearly mutual compulsion of desire, or of attention, opposing to the privileges of further residents, or to the durable and collective benefits of the public. Also he explained why the Framers took a representative democracy, a republic, slightly than a clean, straight, democracy as the system of government for our new population. He defined a "pure democracy" as "a culture involving of a lesser quantity of nations, who gather and direct the rule in individual."

Both authors believe in similar curricula. Ungar states, “ They develop patterns that help them understand how to keep learning for the rest of their days”. He is basically saying that pursuing a liberal arts program won't just help one make money, but actually teach something heart filled and practical. It’s a life long learning process. Gitlin states, “ A strong liberal-arts curriculum could teach them about their history, their social condition, themselves.” He is basically implying that we need to study liberal arts because it helps us understand and study our past, so we don’t make the same mistakes over again. It also helps students grasp the idea that they aren’t as different from their past generations as they think, and that we

The Framer’s notion of a republic, or democratic republic form of government, rested on the necessity to limit the formation and success of factions. Yet, as Dahl argued, the irony of Madison’s aversions to factions is that, not long after the ratification of the

The exchange of opinions is not always a pleasant experience. Conventionally, such exchanges lead to debates and arguments. Although the side with more supporters may seem morally correct, the minority is the component of change, risking everything to push their ideas through, even if it results in violence. In an excerpt from The Decline of Radicalism, Daniel J. Boorstin emphasizes the dichotomy between dissent and disagreement. According to Boorstin, disagreement expresses a differing opinion that may promote debate, whereas dissenting places the dissenters into the minority. Boorstin also claims that disagreement is beneficial to democracy, while dissension is cancerous. Boorstin’s assertion is heavily flawed; dissenters

In discussing the Madisonian Dilemma, one must first ask, “How do you give government enough authority to preserve social order and communal values, but not so much that it places unfair and inappropriate limits on individual freedom of choice?” (Bond & Smith 2013, p. 111) This delicate balance between governmental rights and individual freedoms has been a source of much contention and debate. James Madison, a primary framer of the Constitution and author of 30 of the Federalist Papers, believed that the only way this balance of power could be achieved was through controlling the effects of factions through a representative government, fragmenting the power of that government and creating a system of checks and balances within, and

Great civilizations and empires have changing political atmospheres based on the development of the nation. Political divisions can form and dissolve quickly based on the focus of an economy or the values of the population. However, civil wars are caused by deeply rooted political divisions that are caused by a lack of compromise and politicians prioritizing other issues besides those plaguing the majority of the empire. Often times, violence and hatred begin to infiltrate the government and compromise becomes impossible between two opposing ideologies. In Roman civilization, the deep rooted political division can be traced back to the Senate ignoring the policies of the Gracchi brothers and their ensuing deaths. In the present American society, the political atmosphere is beginning to mirror that of Rome around the time of the death of the Gracchi brothers. The division between the two political parties is widening due to hatred and violence that is beginning to appear more often in political situations. Using Roman civilization as an example, the causes and effects of the current political division in America can be predicted if the atmosphere does not become more accepting of the opposing party.