Federalist Paper 10

¶ … Federalist Paper Number 10 by James Madison [...] how factions were used in the new Constitution scheme to negate vicious legislation. Madison views factions as a dangerous and vicious, and a hazard to the freedom and ideals of a fledgling country.

Madison notes that factions have a negative effect on government and the freedoms of the people. He writes, "The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished; as they continue to be the favorite and fruitful topics from which the adversaries to liberty derive their most specious declamations" (Madison). Today, his description sounds remarkably similar to lobbyists and special interest groups who seem to have so much influence over modern legislation and lawmaking.

While Madison deplores factions and the vicious legislation they can concoct, in truth, factions are a part of life in a democracy, as he also notes. The new Constitution attempts to deal with factions in various ways. First, it regulated the number of representatives, so that there were not so many that they were not clear on their duties and objectives, but not so few that they were overwhelmed with their duties and representation.

The size of the Union is also an element of regulating and negating factions, as the more citizens there are, the more views and opinions will be offered, and there will be less chance for a faction to gain the majority and thus gain power. The Constitution helped provide help in this area by not limiting the size of the country or the people it represented.

The Constitution also lays the groundwork for a Republic, rather than a democracy, which opens up government to more of the people, rather than a few, and so, allows for more diversity and less power by one group or faction. Madison notes that the very idea of liberty encourages factions, but rather than do away with liberty, the Constitution and government must learn how do deal with and control factions, rather than allowing them free reign for their vicious and dangerous ideas.

Thus, if liberty encourages factions, the Constitution uses factions to its benefit. Ultimately, the group of Americans who sought independence from Great Britain could be seen as a dangerous faction, especially by those Americans who did not want to split from their mother country. And so, the legislation they created, including the Declaration of Independence could be seen as documents resulting from a faction. While the Constitution attempted to limit factions, those who wrote it certainly constituted a faction, as they were simply a few who represented many. In addition, the southern membership could be called a faction, as they managed to keep any reference to slavery out of the Constitution, amounting to a vicious and dangerous omission that would later lead to Civil War. As Madison notes in the paper, "And what are the different classes of legislators but advocates and parties to the causes which they determine?" (Madison). Thus, every person has their own personal and political agenda, and it is difficult, if not impossible to avoid factions at one point or another. The very arrangement of the House of Representatives and Senate represents factions, as the predominant party leads the way in legislation and domination of the Congress. Thus, factions may be dangerous, but they have been used throughout the country's history in various ways and indeed, they form a backbone of the representation and legislation that guides the nation.