Federalist Papers
Lesson Objectives
• Examine Federalist Papers 10 & 51 in order to
identify major concepts and ideas
-Assess information and draw conclusions
-Examine information from more than one point of
view
What were the Federalist Papers?
• A series of newspaper articles arguing for
people to vote for the Constitution
• Written by Madison and Hamilton
Terms to Know
Republic – representative/indirect democracy –
citizens elect representatives to make
governmental decisions
Democracy – They often mean “direct” or “pure”
democracy – all citizens participate in decisionmaking. (Weakness?)
Factions – Special interests; any group that tries
to dominate the political process to serve its own
purposes
Federalist 10:
The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against
Domestic Faction and Insurrection
“By a faction, I understand a number of
citizens, whether amounting to a majority
or a minority of the whole, who are united
and actuated by some common impulse of
passion, or of interest, adversed to the
rights of other citizens, or to the
permanent and aggregate interests of the
community”
How to Deal with Factions
For Dummies
Two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by
removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects
2 Options
1.
2.
Destroying the liberty
which is essential to
its existence
By giving to every
citizen the same
opinions, the same
passions, and the
same interests
If factions do exist, how do
you deal with them
appropriately?
Majority
Faction
Minority
Faction
Controlling the Effects of Factions
Majority Faction
Minority Faction
Majority rule will limit
• Keep the idiots quiet
Republic
?
Small
•
•
Factions
hold more
weight
There go
those idiots
again
Pure Democracy
• Majority uses passions to
sway large crowds
• Put down minority’s rights
LARGE
The better choice: Why?
• Greater number of citizens
• More difficult for unworthy
candidates
• Center on men who
possess the right qualities
More representation
More Checks on power
Less Violations of Rights
Federalist 51:
The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the
Proper Checks and Balances Between the
Different Departments
“It is evident that each department should
have a will of its own; and consequently
should be so constituted that the members
of each should have as little agency as
possible in the appointment of the
members of the others”
Rationale for Separation of Powers
Federalist 51:
The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the
Proper Checks and Balances Between the
Different Departments
“Were this principle rigorously adhered to, it
would require that all the appointments for
the supreme executive, legislative, and
judiciary magistracies should be drawn
from the same fountain of authority, the
people, through channels having no
communication whatever with one
another”
Rationale for Popular Sovereignty
Federalist 51:
The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the
Proper Checks and Balances Between the
Different Departments
“But the great security against a gradual
concentration of the several powers in the
same department, consists in giving to
those who administer each department the
necessary constitutional means and
personal motives to resist encroachments
of the others”
Rationale for Checks and Balances
FEDERAL
Senate
Legislative
Executive
Judiciary
STATE
House of Reps
What were two main ideas in the
Federalist Papers about how the
Constitution set up a strong
government that
preserved freedom?
React to the quote that appears
with the person across from you
for 30-60 seconds
• “You must first enable the
government to control the
governed; and in the next
place oblige it to control
itself”
• “Ambition must be made
to counteract ambition”
“If men were angels, no
government would be
necessary”
Why do people today think
the Federalist Papers are so
important?