Essay on Federalist papers No10 and 51
Federalist papers No10 and 51 are among the most significant Federalist papers contributing to justification of the introduction of the US Constitution and unification of the nation. These Federalist papers focused on the prevention of factions and division of power through the system of check and balances. These principles laid the foundation to the US Constitution and political system which persist now.
Federalist Paper No 10 focuses on the problem of factions and the prevention of this problem. To put it more precisely, the author, James Madison, argues that the large union is more effective in preventing small interest groups of taking power and establishing their regime that stands for interests of those groups. James Madison argues that factions comprise an integral part of a democratic state. Moreover, he believes that the American Revolution struggled for liberty of American people, while “liberty to factions is what air is to fire” (Madison, 12). This is why he argues that the simple ban of factions through the elimination of liberty is inadmissible. On the other hand, he believes that large factions in small states can take the power and neglect interest of minorities. Therefore, they will violate rights of people and neglect their interest, while rights of all people are equal. Hence, Madison insists that the large union can control large factions that leads him to the conclusion that small states will be unable to control factions, but the union of American states is the only way to set control over factions and prevent interest groups from taking the absolute power.
Federalist paper No 51 focuses on the separation of powers and, more specifically, upon means by which the separation of powers may be achieved. James Madison, the author of Federalist paper No 51, stands on the ground of the necessity of the separation of power to maintain democracy and liberty in the American nation. He suggests a system of check and balances, which prevent one branch of power from taking control over others. In fact, in his Federalist paper No 51, he suggests separating legislative, judicial and executive branches of powers, which can check and balance each other. This concept of the separation of powers was grounded on James Madison’s idea that “ambition must be made to counteract ambition” (Madison, 17). The principle of the separation of powers laid the foundation to the US political system existing now and was legally implemented in the US Constitution.
In fact, I agree with Federalist paper No 10 and 51, although believe that the risk of factions taking power always persist, regardless of the size of the state, but I believe it is true that in smaller states there is a higher risk of factions taking the full power, while the conflict of interest of different factions in a large state creates better conditions for the control over factions. As for the separation of power, I believe this is the milestone of a truly democratic state because the proposed system of check and balances is an effective tool to prevent certain groups or branches of power from taking the full control over the entire nation.
Thus, Federalist papers No 10 and 51 are major political works which contributed to the creation of the US Constitution and shaping key principles of the US political system.
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