Janise Marvin

Federalist Paper #10

AP Government
Summer Work

Federalist No. 10

In a well-constructed Union, one of the most important jobs is to break and

control division in the form of groups (factions). Faction is a dangerous vice that

threatens to break our government apart and corrupt it. Many model citizens

have complained that our government is too unstable, and however much we

may wish that their complaints have no base, we find that there is some truth to

them.

A faction is a number of citizens, no matter whether they are a majority or

minority of everyone, who are one and have a common passion, interest, or

against rights of other citizens, or interests of the community.

There are two ways to fix the problem of factions: to remove the cause or

to control the effects.

To remove the cause of factions, you would have to get rid of liberty and

freedom or every citizen would have to have the same opinions, passions, and

interests.

To get rid of liberty would be worse than living with factions. Liberty and

factions are like air and fire. Just because air fuels such a destructive force as

fire does not mean that we will remove all air. It’s the same with Liberty and

factions.
 Controlling the effects of factions is as impractical as removing the cause

is unwise. As long as the reason of man can be wrong and he can exercise his

reason, there will be different opinions. Opinions and passions will influence each

other as long as man has reason and self-love.

The causes of faction are in the nature of man. Mankind is divided into

parties according to different religions, politics, attachments to different leaders,

and many other points. The most predominant source of factions is in the

unequal distribution of property. There is a major difference in the interests of

those who own property and those who don’t. There’s interests in land,

manufacturing, mercantile, money, and other lesser interests. The principle task

of modern legislation is to regulate these interests and make sure they are fair.

No man should be allowed to judge in his own cause, lest his own

interests bias his judgment and corrupt his integrity. A group of men works in the

same way; they cannot be judges and parties at the same time. A good majority

of legislation concerns the rights of a group of people, not just one citizen. Justice

should hold the balance between the different groups and parties. The most

powerful faction must prevail when they are the judges. Domestic manufacturing

is a subject which would be decided differently by different factions.

It is in vain to say that an enlightened statesman will be able to decide the

interests based on the public good. Indirect and remote considerations must be

considered as well.

We have been brought to the decision that the causes of faction cannot be
removed, and that we can only seek to ease this problem through controlling the

effects.

If the faction is less than the majority, then the republican principle of

voting based on majority, then there is no problem because the majority will

defeat any sinister views. They might disrupt things trying to win, but by the

constitution, they will be defeated. When the faction is a majority of the whole, we

encounter some problems. They will be able to pass their ideas on the public as

a voting majority, and how to protect against this is the subject of our inquiries.

There are only two options in which we can protect the public good in such

cases. Either a majority interest must be prevented or the majority must be

rendered unable to carry out their schemes. Neither moral nor religious motives

work to control these factions, since they are not found in people such as these.

As the need for morality increases, the efficiency of it decreases.

A pure democracy has no solution for the problem of factions. Majority will

win every time. There are no rules to protect the interests of the majority or of an

individual. This is why democracies have such turbulent and contentious

reputations. Theoretical politicians have thought that if you equalize politics for

the people, everything else will become equal as well. This is not so.

A republic offers a solution to the problem. We shall see the ways that it is

different from pure democracy and we shall understand the cure and why it can

work in an effective way for our Union.

There are two main points of difference between a democracy and a

republic. In a republic, the people elect a small number of people to be delegates

of the government. Also in a republic, a greater number of citizens can be spread

out across a larger country.

The public views are enlarged and refined by having them go through the

chosen delegates, who will choose what is best for their country. The public

voice, heard through the representatives will be more consonant to the public

good than if the people voiced them. There is the possibility that the opposite

may happen where the representatives are corrupt and betray the interests of the

people after gaining the position.

The number of representatives must be raised to a certain number to keep

the schemes of a few out. It must also be limited to a certain number to keep

from the confusion of too many. The number of representatives should be in

proportion to the number of constituents.

Each representative will be chosen by a large rather than small number of

citizens since it is a large republic. This will make it more difficult for unworthy

candidates to be elected. This will also ensure that the candidate with the most

attractive merit and best character will hold the public interest.

It must be said that if there are too many constituents, then the candidate

will not be able to know all the local issues. It is hard to find a happy medium

between too many and not enough constituents.

Secondly, a republic can have a greater amount of people and country in it

than a democracy. In a smaller society it is easier for a faction to gain a majority

and impress their view on the public. When you enlarge the size of the republic,

there is less of a chance that they will gain a majority.

Factious leaders may gain an influence in their particular area, but it will

be unable to spread through the country. There may be groups that turn into

political factions, but because there are so many different groups in the Union, it

is difficult to have danger from any one source. One small sect will unlikely

invade the entire union, just like a particular disease will taint a certain county or

area rather than an entire state.

To keep a strong Union, we propose a republican remedy to the problem

of factions. And because we are so happy and proud to be republicans, we

support and cherish the spirit and character of the Federalists.