Federalist 10 outlined
The problem is that we have factions. A “faction” is simply a number of citizens who are united
by some common interest and that are “adversed” to others. Most common source of factions is
unequal distribution of property. The principle task of government is the regulation of varying
and competing interests.
!You can cure factions by
•
•
either removing the cause by (which can be done in two ways:
o Destroying liberty (but the cure is worse than the disease); or
o Giving everyone same opinions, passions, etc. (impractical).
or controlling their effects.
o Easy to do if the faction is in the minority; democracy will take care of the
problem, b/c the minority will lose.
o Hard if the faction is in the majority; you need to secure the public good and
private rights a/g such a faction. You can do this by either –
▪ preventing the same passion/interest from forming in a faction (good luck
with that), or
▪ rendering the faction unable to oppress the minority, through their number
and location. To do this, you can try democracy or a republic.
o A “pure democracy” (i.e., a small # of citizens who are making all
the decisions for themselves) can’t control factions.
➢ There will always be some common passion/interest forming in
a majority, in part b/c they are in such close proximity. They
can chat.
➢ There is no effective check. Minorities get oppressed.
o In a republic (i.e., a representative gov’t), you can avoid these
problems.
➢ Republics have delegated power to a small # of citizens
o This refines and enlarges the public view; the elected
officials do what they think is best for the country.
o But a republic runs the risk of bad politicians getting elected. How
do you best minimize that risk?
➢ By having a certain # of elected officials.
o Small enough so that the politicians know their
constituents.
o But large enough so that the pols don’t become “unduly
attached” to the voters and unable to see the national
interests.
➢ Republics also need a large # of people electing the officials.
o This makes it more difficult for unworthy candidates to
win.
➢ Lots of people and a larger geographic area result in more
parties, greater difficulty in controlling a politician, more
difficult for a common motive to oppress others. Even if there
is a common motive, it will be hard for folks to communicate
about that passion and thereby form a faction.
!Bottom line: To control the mischief of factions, have lots of ‘em and spread them out over a
wide area. Let faction compete with faction.