Madison's Extended Republic Theory

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

With a higher populace comes the ability to have a larger fighting force. Another valid point that Madison brings up is that small republics are often prone to faction, and eventually fall apart. With a large republic, you can “tame” the factions with majority rule, while letting them freely express their opinions. I agree with Madison on many of these points, but I think that he would change his opinion on many after seeing the current condition of the United States. The governing body has grown so large that it has become inefficient and in many areas has lost its ability to do what is best for the

The second way in which a pure democracy differs from a republic is that a republic is much better-suited to be extended over, as Madison puts it, a “greater sphere of country”. This second difference between the two forms of government is significant in ensuring the effectiveness of a large republic over a small republic. Madison holds that there are two options in curing the effects of factions. Factions can be cured by either removing their causes or by controlling their effects. Removing the causes of factions is neither practical nor wise, as there are two ways to remove the causes of factions: destroy the liberty that fuels the formation of factions, or force the same interests and opinions on every citizen. Liberty cannot

However, Madison explained that there are two methods of removing the causes of faction. First, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence. “Liberty is to faction, what air is to fire, an ailment, without which it instantly expires,” Madison stated. What Madison was trying to say is that liberty and factions go hand in hand. Liberty promotes a faction to grow and get more powerful. In this way, it is better to lessen liberty among individuals to provide for what is best for the overall society. If people are not free to form and express their points of view, then factions could never take hold.

Through “Federalist No. 10”, Madison explains his reasons for his belief that the new government and Constitution would prevail and be superior to more democratic forms of government since the representation proposed would allow for more security and would “refine and enlarge the public views” (Madison 1). The Constitution would also call for a separation of national and state governments, allowing there to be specific representation for states along with other representation occurring for the country as a whole which would take into consideration the roles of the state governments as well. This form of government, Madison argues, would make sure that the “encreased variety of parties, comprised within the union, encrease [the] security” of each party and of those represented through the government (2). Through the republic formed through the Constitution, there would be enough democracy for the people to be represented by delegates through elections and would even allow for more security since the democracy present before the forming of the Constitution was “incompatible with person security, or the rights of property” since there was too much freedom provided to the people (1). The republic, Madison argues, “promises the cure for which [they] are seeking” (1).

In the presence of a powerful fraction, there is nothing to protect the minority factions from being overpowered; that a true direct democracy would be incapable of maintaining the protection of liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness. A large republic government will impart power to elected representatives, making the power of factions to affect the vote is greatly decreased. Madison believes that this type of government should be put in the new constitution.

What Madison is saying is that factions are going to be in a society no matter what. People are going to have different opinions. Factions are always going to exist, and no matter what, the government cannot remove factions because if they do then they are eliminating peoples rights. The constitution protects against this. ?Liberty is to faction, what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be a less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.? This is one reason that the Americans had success (Ziegler 216).

The only way to manage faction is to remove its causes and to control its effects. By removing its causes Madison believes that liberty will be destroyed, or that by giving every citizen the same opinions, passions, and interests, would be impossible because people can never all be the same. Madison wanted the United States to be a republic, a form of democracy in which power is vested in representatives, so there will be a greater number of citizens represented and we will also be able to have more control over the factions effects.

Although James Madison despised factions as explained in Federalist Paper No. 10, Madison believed factions were an essential part of government, that needed to be revised through careful governmental intervention. Madison was careful to ensure his vision for the country 's future would protect the given right to liberty; therefore he found in the Constitution multiple outlets for these factions to dissolve. However, the government itself was corrupt so the three branches had to be separated to prevent tyranny and be successful in stopping the dangerous factions. Therefore, in Federalist Papers No. 10 and No. 51, Madison would outline his goals for creating a more cohesive country.

As long as there is liberty, different opinions and factions will form. Madison simply wishes to establish a system in which the detrimental effects of factions on the whole government are reduced and kept in check. He argues that a pure democracy cannot mitigate the threats of factions and that only a republic can. He believes that a system of government that allow every citizen to vote directly for laws is dangerous as common people's decisions are affected by their self-interest, instead he advocates a different form of government in which citizens elect a small body of representatives who then vote for laws. Madison’s trust in a republic is fueled and bolstered by his lack of confidence in the people’s capacity to make well-informed

“Madison’s attacks on Pinckney’s claims to authorship of at least parts of the Constitution were followed up by his admirers and subsequent generations of scholars. Pinckney, of course, was dead and could not defend himself.” This quote defines how James Madison sought to take greater credit for the Pinckney Plan, which was created by Charles Pinckney of South Carolina. Charles Pinckney claimed to have laid the foundation for the U.S. Constitution (through the Pinckney Plan), which formed a bicameral legislative organization of the future government that included a Senate and House. Historically, Pinckney claimed to be the youngest delegate at the Constitutional Conventions (later proven to not be true), yet Madison hid his notes of the Pinckney

Madison's place among the Founding Fathers reveals the essential qualities of his public career. Jefferson had a superior vision of the potential for life under republican government, a greater capacity for leadership, and a special gift for the memorable phrase, but Madison had a more subtle and incisive political sense.

Madison’s views of both houses of congress are very similar and different at the same time. One difference that is pointed out is the difference in the size of both houses. The House of Representatives is based on the population of each state and is heavily controlled by bigger groups/ states. Where as the Senate is an equal dispersion of people from each state, two people from each state to be exact. When it came to these two houses there was a lot that had to been said for them.

During the second half of the essay, Madison empathized the importance of diving the government into federal and state to provide “double security” to the people, and “to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part,” meaning to protect the rights of the minority against the majority. The idea behind the separation of the federal and the state governments is once again to protect, and ensure, the liberty of the masses. By having to different governments, they can control each other, but also regulate themselves (executive, legislative, and judiciary branches). As for the protection of the minority, when the majority has an issue in common, then the rights of the minority become irrelevant. In the essay, Madison proposed

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