![]() ![]() That separation consists of two parts in the Constitution, namely, provisions which guarantee to each of the branches a degree of immunity and independence from the other, as well as provisions which create a blending and overlapping of functions and require the different branches to collaborate to create policy. 51, Madison also explained another protection against a radical utopian faction gaining hold of the national government, the separation of powers. This “federal” structure is enhanced by what Madison considered to be the adoption within the Constitution of the principle of subsidiarity, that is, that most political matters would be handled at the lowest level of political units, rather than by Congress. In addition, the structural balance of formal constitutional powers between the national government and the states, further prevents any utopian faction in one state from readily spreading to another. This creates a protective moat for society against dangers from radical policies which one faction might seek to impose on the country. Fortunately, the diversity of religious, economic, ethnic, and customary influences creates shifting alliances among various factions, none of which would become an established majority at the national level. In Madison’s view, emergence of a permanent majority faction was more concerning, as minority factions would be controlled through majority voting. And happily for the republican cause, the practicable sphere may be carried to a very great extent, by a judicious modification and mixture of the federal principle.” 51, “In the extended republic of the United States, and among the great variety of interests, parties, and sects, which it embraces, a coalition of the majority of the whole society could seldom take place upon any other principles, than those of justice and the general good …. Madison continued along the same vein in essay No. The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular states, but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other states: a religious sect may degenerate into a political faction in a part of the confederacy but the variety of sects dispersed over the entire face of it, must secure the national councils against any danger from that source: a rage for paper money, for an abolition of debts, for an equal division of property, or for any other improper or wicked project, will be less apt to pervade the whole body of the union than a particular member of it in the same proportion as such a malady is more likely to taint a particular county or district, than an entire state. The danger somewhat abates across a state but is least likely to occur in the nation and within its general government. While democracies are most susceptible to control by an entrenched faction, small republics are not immune. Derived from the natural inequalities among human beings, factions are a foreseeable part of society. 10, identified the problem as one of faction, where members of a community joined by a common passion to gain power. ![]() The drafters understood that utopian schemes were more likely to succeed in smaller and more homogeneous communities. There are numerous devices in the Constitution to frustrate utopian schemes. 40, or whether the Constitution was a mere extension of the Articles and “consist much less in the addition of NEW POWERS to the union, than in the invigoration of its ORIGINAL POWERS,” as he averred in essay No. ![]() On that matter, it was irrelevant whether the Philadelphia Convention technically acted outside its charge from the states and the Confederation Congress and produced a revolutionary new charter, which argument James Madison disputed in The Federalist, No. Its writers sought to provide practical solutions, shaped by their experiences. The United States Constitution is the product of a process which attempted to address perceived inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation in dealing with practical problems of governance. Tips from Past “We The Future” Contest Winners!. ![]()
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