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In Defense Of Faction
Call me old fashioned but I have read about times when men said ‘governments do the best when they govern the least.’ Perhaps it wasn’t meant that government, in and of its operating parts, did not want to govern least; rather it was forced to as the result of ‘rabid’ bi-partisan bickering. If one steps back and takes a much grander view of history, perhaps everyone, at their moment in time, believes as Charles Dickens stated in A Tale of Two Cities, ‘it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.’ Staying with our historical exegesis of man’s beliefs, or more specifically American governmental beliefs, I wish to shine a light on one of The Federalist writers and that is James Madison. Madison, the famous scribe of the Constitutional Convention, prior to the Convention’s commencement set out on an exhaustive study of all previous republics. This study culminated in his authorship of Federalist Paper 10 (among others) but no other papers so eloquently relay his beliefs on the history of the earlier republics. Both Hamilton and Madison in Federalist Papers 9 and 10, respectively, answer the crux of the argument between the anti-Federalists and the Federalists, namely the Federalists are there to create a radically new government straying from the previous republican ideals of direct, participatory government. As Hamilton states in Federalist Paper 9, ‘it is impossible to read the history of the petty republics of Greece and Italy, without feeling sensations of horror and disgust…..by which they were kept perpetually vibrating between the extremes of tyranny and anarchy.’ Madison, for his part, continues where Hamilton left off and stipulates in Federalist Paper 10, the vice of ‘faction’ in these early republican governments was their ultimate downfall, ‘the violence of faction everywhere….republics perish under this vice. There are no exceptions.’ In order for you to have a full meaning of the word ‘faction’ I shall use Madison’s own words below to define it: "By faction, I understand 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 interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent aggregate interests of the community." Essentially, as Madison so eloquently explained, factions are the result of impassioned citizens bent on fulfilling their interest to the detriment of the minority, majority, or the community. In order to control faction, the previous republics had one of two ways which Madison states are ‘[one] removing its [faction’s] causes; the other, by controlling its effects.’ The first would be to turn the polity into a despotic kingdom and rule by violence. The second, and more republican way, was to make the people more homogenous and focused on the community. However, Madison believes making or inducing people to believe like one another is not only impractical, but also, against human nature. ‘The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere, brought into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society.’ (Madison) For Madison, there are many reasons why man are born to faction, from disparages in property (real or perceived), differences in religion, zealotry in politics, beliefs and opinions. In fact, Madison goes even further to state: "So strong, is this propensity of mankind, to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kind their unfriendly passions, and excite their most violent conflicts." In order to mute and/or subvert the severity of faction ‘the regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation, and involves the spirit of party and FACTION [all caps for emphasis] in the necessary and ordinary operations of Government.’ The sentiment presented by Madison is monumental and iconoclastic, in that, for him, the American republic is not only going to tolerate but foster faction within its ranks. Faction shall now be used to control faction. The most dangerous faction, for Madison, was the faction of majority, for majority rule has the greatest power and greatest legitimacy with the people. First and foremost, Madison believes the United States, covering such a vast area and large, non-homogeneous people will naturally be prone to passion and thus garnering a true majority to despotic faction via demagoguery will be difficult at best. In addition, due to all the rival interests within each party or sect or faction will necessarily force each side to compromise. As such, in order to govern, many of the more tenuous or extreme views shall be purged from the group. As I look over the panoply of American history, and in light of Madison’s views on faction, perhaps we, as a people, are misinterpreting our times completely. Many believe that if government is not passing law and regulations then somehow government isn’t working or is broken. For Madison, it seems readily apparent; the inability to pass legislation is not the nadir of politics but rather its greatest fulfillment of American republicanism and, more appropriately, a ‘factional’ check on the excesses of government. Even in the worst of times, at least for Adams as he lamented Jefferson’s victory in 1800, ‘terrorists have taken over our government,’ history has shown it wasn’t that horrible after all. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Thomas M. Brophy, Editor www.dailylibertarian.com To view article please go to the following link: www.dailylibertarian.com/2011/02/01/in-defense-of-faction/ |
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