ETHS AP Government & Politics 2015 Blog

Quinn Tucker

AP Government, Period 3

Ms. Gordon

October 1, 2015

Federalist Papers & Factional Control

            The constitutional convention was an extremely unique time. The founding fathers became the first in world history to create a new nation out of a revolution and create a place that’s priority was to create liberty. However, due to the history of the new nation and the diversity of perspectives creating a government that would be fair proved to be difficult.  The revolution made the American’s fear a powerful person or persons in power. However, the initial Articles of Confederation were too weak and left the states more a separate entities then a unified nation. As a result they were trying to create a government that wouldn’t end up with too much power falling into the hands of a specific interest group or political party but still had the power to unify the nation and have certain powers.

From the Philadelphia Convention came the Federalist Papers written by James Maddison and Alexander Hamilton. The goal of these papers was to convince the American public of the purpose of having a stronger federal government under the constitution. The papers explained the concept of balance of powers. That through breaking the government into three separate bodies they were allowing not too much power to fall into the hands of one person one group. This concept was inspired by a philosopher named Montesquieu who believed that through separate branches a government wouldn’t be corrupted. The reason this separation of power was successful was due to the fact that the fragmented structure of the government doesn’t allow for power to fall into the hands of one specific person or group of persons, otherwise known as factional control.

In “Federalist” No. 51 Madison discusses how the separation of national institutions was designed both to empower and restrict the national government. This is similar to Montesquieu and his idea of separate branches because of the separation no one side can gain absolute control. Madison continues by saying that no main government branch should be directly administered by another and none will have overruling influence over another. Through this balance in the branched and through the checks and balances we obtain a unification in our government. Madison also discusses how even though the legislative branch tends to gain superiority over the two other branches the presence of the three departments naturally limits against the “tyrannical concentration.” In addition, through the two sided Congress factional control is yet again blocked. The Senate is an even playing field for all states because no one large state can end up controlling the federal government as well. Whereas the House of Representatives is based on population so the majority populations can still have their voices be heard. This system prevents one party from simply gaining significant control of the government no matter their state size or value.  

The other concern was the fact that one branch would ultimately control the others. However this was solved through each department has a will of its own as a result it allows for the government to naturally not fall into the powers of one since on branch can’t control all roles of the government. This is a direct copy of Montesquieu’s philosophy. Even though a lot of power may fall into one branch at a time, the way government is structured allows for minorities to have representation. In “Federalist” No. 10 Madison discusses factions are a “dangerous vice” to government. He continues by discussing how the government shouldn’t be controlled by a faction group but should be controlled by liberty. The branches system allows for a separation that ultimately prevents faction leaders “kindle a flame” in one state, but wouldn’t be able to spread to another state or even the national government.

Through a blending of unique and new philosophies, the founding fathers were able to create this union that was empowered and weakened by its own existence. This truly unique system is surly flawed but has gone unchanged for hundreds of years. The factional concerns of Constitutional times are so similar to the issues we face today in the polarization of our current political scene. However, through history the elections by the American people often contrast their choices in terms of laws. For example, in the recent voting ballet Congress became extremely more Conservative. In contrast, people voted on laws and bills that were more liberal. The concern of a mob or majority government is very relevant, however it appears the American people sometimes naturally balance power out themselves.