James Madison, Federalist #10 (1787-1788)
Human nature is selfish and passionate, and when combined with reason, individuals
have “liberty.”
Liberty = pursuit of property => classes and factions (everyone cannot have equal
property).
Classes
Factious Majority
Factious Minority
REMOVE CAUSES: People could remove the causes of faction, but this would destroy
liberty. This solution is worse than the problem.
SOLUTION: The Federalists sought to work with human nature. They advocated letting
factions run their course, arguing that in a large republic they would compete with one
another and effectively cancel each other out.
THREE FACTORS THAT WILL CHECK THE TYRANNY OF A FACTION:
1. LARGE POLITY: Thousands of factions will result in a diffusion of factions that
will tend to cancel each other out.
2. REPRESENTATION: Representative government will act as a filter, protecting
the republic form the passions of the masses.
3. SEPARATION OF POWERS: A federal government and a separation of powers
will result in a system checks and balances in power.