Federalist Papers - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... The overall purpose was not only to reshape the constitution of the country but also to ensure the ratification of the US as a combined State. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton as well as John Jay are considered as the authors of these papers though at the time of their publication, the original authorship of these articles were kept secret. Out of all these articles, federalist paper 10 and 51 are considered as most important papers outlining the broader scope and structure of the constitution of the country besides presenting plausible arguments in favor of the formation of one large State. Federalist 10 actually dealt with how to deal with small factions or interest groups and what should be the overall structure of the State to overcome or control such factions. It is written in continuation of the Federalist 9 and also outlines as to how the existence of such groups can tear apart the whole republic. Federalist 51 discusses as to how an effective system of checks and balance as well as the separation of the powers within the government. This paper will therefore discuss both these papers and will explore some of the key arguments made in these papers. Federalist # 10 Federalist 10 discussed extensively the role of the factions and how they can actually damage a republic. Madison was of the view that there are two ways through which such factions can be dealt with. He was of the view that either the very cause of the factions should be removed or the damage caused by such factions should be controlled. 1. His arguments therefore were largely in favor of how to balance both the aspects of factions and devise mechanism to deal with them. One of the key arguments made by the Madison outline that such factions cannot be eliminated altogether because majority can also form such factions. The republic according to Madison however, should be large and diverse enough while at the same time maintain the enough commonality. Madison argued in this paper that a direct democracy would be necessary in place of indirect democracy. Further, he was of the view that the representative democracy should be implemented in order to protect the interests of the individuals from the majority rule. (Meyerson, 2008) The role of anti-federalist however, should also be taken into consideration in the wake of their overall stance on the formation of a central authority. Madison throughout this paper argued that the formation of a large republic is essential in order to control the influence of such faction groups. Anti-federalists also argued that a diverse republic would be difficult to survive and therefore advocated giving more powers to the States based on the notion of locality. (Amar, 1993) The arguments of the anti-federalist can also be considered as interesting in the sense that they argued that the states a large state of the size of United States would eventually fail. As such the notion that a large republic is necessary in order to control the influence of the factions would not provide any credible or long term solution to the problem. Anti-federalist view also holds that if the republic is consolidated and a larger State is created, the overall chances of the representation of the people would be reduced. They argue that its through local participation that the representation of citizens could be ensured. In nutshell, Federalist 10 argued that the factions and their influence in the society and political activity could be controlled through the creation of a larger republic managed through representative democracy. Federalist#51 Federalist 51 is another important essay in the series of Federalist Papers outlining the need to have a proper check and balance system. Further it also outlines ...Download file to see next pagesRead More