Federalist No. 10 : Prequel

The stability of the still very young United States is threatened by the presence of factions, groups of individuals who put and promote their own interests before those of the whole country. Factions tend to disregard the public interest and obtrude the rights of others. However, the Constitution establishes a system of government that is capable of predominating the chaos caused by factions.

There are really only two ways to control factions: remove its causes or control its effects. The former is impossible to do because of the nature of man, which is to consort with those with similar views and aspirations. Doing this would mean eradicating liberty or bestowing everyone with the same opinions and desires, which is of course unfeasible. Therefore, controlling the effects is the only way to control factions.

Factions are inevitable because there will always be some who do not agree with the majority. As previously stated, it is the nature of man to fraternize with those who are comparable to themselves. This will persist as long as men have dissimilar opinions, different amounts of wealth, and inconsistent amounts of property, which in fact seems to be the most significant cause of factions.

In America, a representative government has been established in which many elect the few who govern. This is unlike like direct (pure) democracies in which all the citizens participate directly in making the laws and is incapable of suppressing faction-caused issues. In this type of government, the most massive and strongest faction dominates and there is no protection for weaker factions or individuals against the actions of the superior. There needs to be some way to prevent a group from gaining too much power in government.

Those elected to govern should put the desires and interests of the people before their own, though within reason of course. An elected official could one day decide to deceive the people and implement selfish policies that could have a negative effect on the public, or even no effect at all. However, this is highly improbable in a nation as large as the United States of America. In large nations more representatives are selected by a greater number of people, therefore increasing the chance of qualified persons holding office and making deception more difficult. In small nations, the case is the exact opposite. In addition, factions will be abundant in large countries, yet they will be weaker compared to those of smaller countries with direct or pure democracies.

The purpose of the Constitution is to unite the thirteen states into a secure union. Although some states are far from the capitol and find it to be a hassle sending representatives the long distance, a strong centralized federal government is what will protect and rule the states the best.