Federalist 10 Pros And Cons

Throughout Federalist 10, Madison warned his audience of the dangers of factions. Madison believed that as long as people espoused differing opinions, came from different backgrounds, and especially, as long as there was an unequal distribution of property, people would form factions with like-minded individuals whose ideologies they shared. This grouping of people of America, in his opinion, would lead to great violence in the country that could harm the nation’s wellbeing. In order to remedy this problem, in which he viewed unequal distribution of property as the main culprit, Madison decided that setting up a Republic which would be composed of only the most qualified candidates and would be composed of a multitude of factions would be

In Federalist 10, Madison stated that “each representative will be chosen by a greater number of citizens… it will be more difficult for unworthy candidates to practice with success the vicious arts by which elections are too often carried” and furthermore that these men will “possess the most attractive merit” and will carry “enlightened views and virtuous sentiment.” This claim that Madison made is very logical; the republic was so large the people would naturally be inclined to select the candidates who were the best fit (as people are likely to vote for candidates who had well established character and merit) and were least likely to be influenced by one particular faction, ergo these candidates would best represent the majority of the entire nation’s views. Furthermore, it is important to note that Madison described the candidates with the phrase “virtuous sentiment,” as virtue was a key political term in the 18th century in Republican ideology. In the context of the time, virtuous people by definition did not act out of their own interests, as they already owned property, thus had no reason to manipulate the government. Thus, these candidates would, with little doubt, would work to ensure there was a great degree of political equality in the