The Federalist Papers:

Essay #10: Faction

Directions:

Translate each section of the essay into your own words

Then, summarize the main idea of the essays argument
Finally, answer the short answer question at the end of the text

1. The "violence of faction" is the "mortal disease" of popular governments. The

public assemblies have been infected with the vice of majority tyranny:
"measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice, and the
rights of the minor party; but by the superior force of an interested and
overbearing majority."
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2. What is a faction? "A number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or
minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of
passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent
and aggregate interests of the community."
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3. How can we cure "the mischiefs of faction?" We can either cure it by I)
"removing its causes," or II) "controlling its effects." In other words, there are "two
methods of removing the causes of faction": I a) destroy "the liberty essential to
its existence," or I b) give "to every citizen the same opinions, the same
passions, and the same interests."
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4. But destroying liberty is a "remedy that is worse than the disease," because it
is "unwise." It entails the abolition of liberty, "which is essential to political
life." And giving every citizen the same ideas is impossible. Opinions, passions,
and interests are unlikely to be in harmony.
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Summary
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The Federalist Papers:

Essay #51: Separation of Powers
Directions:

Translate each section of the essay into your own words

Then, summarize the main idea of the essays argument
Finally, answer the short answer question at the end of the text

1. The way to implement the theory of separation of powers in practice is to

create "the structure of the government so that its several parts may, by their
relationship to each other, be the means of keeping each other in their proper
places."
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2. Accordingly, "each department should have a will of its own; but should be
created so that the members of each department should have as little power as
possible in the appointment of the members of the others."
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3. A: "The great security against a concentration of the several powers in the
same department Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The
interests of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the
place."
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4. Isn't relying on ambition and interest, "a reflection on human nature?" But,
adds Madison, what is government itself but the greatest reflection on human
nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary."
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5. "The Great Difficulty" of Founding a new government: You must first enable
the government to control the governed; and in the then allow it to control itself.
Giving power to the people is, no doubt, the primary goal of the government, but
experience has taught us the need for other precautions."
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Summary
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