Madison's No. 10

To be completely honest, it took me a while to understand what this assignment was about, therefore, I appologize for it being late. I still am not 100% sure what I read or think, but I'm giving it a shot...

As I was reading Madison's The Federalist No. 10, I found myself looking up the meaning of "faction". As I understood it, it is a clique within a large group. When I hear 'clique' I think of how people use the term referring to social groups, such as in high schools. Everyone had their own 'clique(s)' that they belonged to. Madison debated whether or not it would be better to remove the causes of faction or to control its effects. I must say I agree with his decision of just controlling its effects. I think it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to remove the causes of faction. As soon as you removed one, another would appear. Just like if you eliminated a 'clique' from a student body, another one would take the role the former one had. That same pattern would continue to go on.

Madison then goes on to state that controlling faction's effects would be possible in a republic but not a pure deomcracy. According to him, common people make decisions based on self interest. Well, doesn't everyone? Isn't it typically what majority wants, majority gets? In a republic, the citizens would vote for the representatives, who then make the basic votes/decisions, based on the people. However, in a pure democracy, every citizen gets to vote for the laws. Unlike what Madison wanted I like the idea f every citizen having the right to vote for what they wanted. Each person has their own opinion according to how they've lived. They should be allowed to make a stand for what they think.

As Madison would want a large republic, I can see how it has its benefits. The numbers of representatives, voters, and candidates would be higher. This allows for more opinions, more ideas, tougher decisions to make, and more thorough ways as to how to meet these goals. With more people working together, there will be more conflict because everyone has a different opinion. With the size of America, this is best. We need as many different thoughts out there as possible, this way most people will be reached or heard in some way. The candidates in a alrge republic would need to work harder to win the people's votes. This effort will also show the voters how working hard can pay off. It is the duty of these candidates to please the majority of the people.

For the most part, I agree with Madison's decisons/arguments he made in the Federalist papers. However, I think the people should be allowed more than what he is willing to give them...