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In 1787 Madison wrote in the tenth essay of The Federalist Papers that, "By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether mounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest... " (30). This became a huge problem during this time because many competing groups were conflicting over a variety of issues. Faction is caused because it is in the nature of man to have differing opinions. These opinions ranged from religion, government, and leaders. The biggest and worst faction occurred between the rich and the poor. The reason that factions are so dangerous is because they usually have the ability and the power to manipulate the results in their own special interests rather then for the public good.
One of the promises of a well-constructed Union is to break and control the violence of Faction. There were only two methods of curing this problem; they included either removing its causes; or the other by controlling its effects. The first method of removing the causes took away the freedom of Liberty. However, this method couldn't work. As Madison said, "Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires" (30).
Liberty is a necessity to political life and without it you are taking away the right of man. Liberty is essential to its existence because it nourishes faction. The second method of removing the causes is by giving to every citizen the same opinions, same passions, and same interests. This method is just impractical; every man has the right to exercise liberty.
By doing so there is going to be different opinions, as there should be. The government's first priority to the people is their right to allow their voices to be heard. As long as people have different beliefs, a society is going to be divided by interests and parties. Without these different ideas our government wouldn't be the way it is today. Madison realized that the effects of factions could not be prevented, but he believed that they could be controlled by the checks and balances built into the Constitution. By creating the checks and balances factions were easier to keep under control.
The biggest problems were the majority factions. The minority factions could usually be controlled by force. The government felt that it would be better to have many minorities rather then a large majority. To do this the government had to refine and enlarge the public views. The fewer parties and interests, the more frequently a majority will be found within the same party. Within a majority there are usually a greater variety of interests, this makes it less probable that the majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens.
While people in the majority have different motives it is more difficult for all who feel the same to act together in unison. This makes the majority less of a threat. A Large Commercial Republic is preferred because the larger a society, the greater the variety, the more opinions. This heterogeneous majority has competing economic interests. This prevented the opportunity to act; therefore, the solution to majorities is minorities. By using minorities to prevent majorities you are in a sense using the disease to prevent it, this disease is Faction.
As I mentioned before the most conflicting faction is between the rich and the poor. The poor, which envy the rich, attack and destroy democracies. This is very dangerous and can only be avoided by dividing the societies not based on the amount of property, but the type of job or property. By doing this no one will be a majority faction. All factions can be changed.
This is also the reason Republics are better than Democracies. A Republic allows the people to elect leaders, its representative. This helps broaden the views, which makes it closer to the common good of the people. These leaders then harmonize and compromise.
They bring together all points of views and filter out the impurities. They transcend above selfish interests and come as close as possible to the common good of the society. The leaders may also be checked in order to keep them virtuous, if they are not they can be impeached. This separation of power is what made the government fair and just. The "new science" of faction is one that wasn't cured, however it was controlled. The best way to control these factions is to create more.
Many minorities is better then a majority. A Republic is also better then a Democracy because it is representative of a large population rather then a small group of leaders. This paves the way for more opinions and views and a better system of compromising them. Madison's view is still applied today as well.
Take for example the recent public incident involving John Rocker. As citizens of the United States, everyone is entitled to freedom of speech. However, his situation came across differently. He decided to speak poorly of people from New York and is permitted the liberty to speak his mind.
Still he has been penalized for it. He has been fined and suspended from playing baseball for a month. Because baseball is a national form of entertainment this was considered intolerable behavior. It is officially not illegal, but it was unkind for him to say, and looks poorly on baseball. It shows how rules can say one thing, but may be enforced in contrary ways. And proves how decisions are made looking out for the public good and conflict often arises.
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