Federalist # 10

Federalist Paper # 10

Federalist Paper #10 was written by James Madison in 1787 and is the 10th of 85 papers by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. The papers were arguments for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Paper #10 addresses the dangers of factions: special interest groups like a state that may be able to gain too much power. And with the states having more power than a central government, it would be possible for one to become powerful enough to be able to control the whole country. Madison says that a more centralized government, further away from extremes and more of a republic, is in our best interest. He believed that with a republic we would gain more checks and balances which is something other forms of government lack.

This paper relates directly to the “U” shaped diagram that we used in class to describe the different types of government. At the time it was written, America had a very weak central government, and the states had all the power putting us at three on the “U.” If a faction would have rose up and gained too much power, the American government could have jumped to a nine or maybe even higher. With the checks and balances we gained by staying somewhere in the middle, America made sure that no part of the government or any faction ever gained too much power. The power struggle is still a real thing, and these ups and downs from centralization and decentralization are still going on today.

This paper, although hard to read, does bring up a very important issue that needed to be addressed. Without our constitution, who knows where we would be today. Paper # 10 described a real danger in factions, and Madison said what we needed to do to fight against their ever rising powers. The problem of any state getting too powerful is not the same issue as faced in 1787. There is not a threat for any of our states