No course in American government and politics would be complete without devoting some

serious consideration to James Madison’s

Federalist

# 10. In Madison’s mind, our federalism and

separation of powers and bicameralism—so much of the design for government we find in the

Constitution—is meant to counteract and/or channel the power of “faction” in the United

States. “Popular governments,” Madison warns in the beginning of his essay, display a

significant “propensity to this dangerous vice.” Madison concedes that the constitution he and

his fellow founders propose will necessarily give rise to faction, the “CAUSES” of which simply

“cannot be removed” without scrapping the whole idea of popular government. Fortunately,

Madison quickly avers, the founders’ particular design for popular government, the United

States Constitution, also provides “the means of controlling its EFFECTS.”

Roughly the last third of Madison’s # 10 presents two basic characteristics of the new republic,

the one the Constitution will create if the states will ratify it: the “delegation of the

government… to a small number of citizens elected by the rest” and “the greater number of

citizens, and greater sphere of country.” Factions will rise, but they’ll never achieve the strength

necessary to cause real trouble, at least not for very long.

Carefully consider all we’ve learned about American government and politics. Use your

knowledge to support or refute Madison’s argument about the republic’s effect on faction.

Whatever your position, make sure to offer concrete, detailed examples (historical episodes,

descriptions of current conditions, etc.) from American government and politics to make your

case.

but there is no need to conduct any fresh research. There should be references to—paraphrases of and, perhaps, direct quotations from—Madison’s Federalist # 10, and the textbook contains plenty of evidence for use in bolstering your argument.

Do not assume a first-person perspective; avoid the use of “I,” “me,” and so forth.