ipl-logo

Implications Of Bernie Sanders Speech On Democratic Socialism

1896 Words8 Pages

In this essay, I will review the implications of Bernie Sanders' speech on Democratic Socialism, and how it relates to the ideas of James Madison, Fredrick Hayek, McClosky/Zallers, and Sidney Verba. By examining their different views of government, markets, and the role of marginalized groups, this essay will argue that not only does Bernie Sanders' speech demand the need for giving these groups more say in the government but seemingly divergent thinkers who may not advocate for a similar level of government intervention advise that a just society will look out for the minority. Through this analysis, it will become clear that Sanders' view of government, while described as radical, echoes what Madison posits in Federalist NO.10 papers. This …show more content…

Bernie believes that supporting marginalized groups and giving them more opportunities to implement change in the government is especially important. He believes with our current system people with the most wealth and power have had greater say in the government. This quote portrays Bernie Sanders' opinion towards supporting a more diverse system. “They are the entities with unlimited wealth who surround our nation’s capital with thousands of well-paid lobbyists, who to a significant degree write the laws that we live under.” This has been a problem for our society because the elites have been able to shape society to their needs and in ways that benefit the wealthy. In change, we would be able to give more power to marginalized groups and in doing so it would create a more balanced government and create more diverse and equal opportunities. As we can see from Sanders' quote regarding the entities with unlimited wealth who ‘write the laws we live under’ and Madison's Federalist No. 10, we can see how these two politicians share a similar view on the danger of democracy being corrupted by special interests. James Madison’s main point in Federalist NO.10 is that he believes in a large republic with representative democracy. His theory is that by voting for wiser and better representatives the current constitutional system can achieve this “The federal constitution forms a happy combination in this respect; the great and aggregate interest being referred to the national, the local and particular to the state legislatures”. (Federalist, 1787, 52) What Madison did not foresee was the increase in income and inequality and the influences of wealthy individuals who have the free time and money to make their voices louder as we see later in the “Big Tilt” by Sidney Verba. When you are consumed with trying to put food on the table

Show More
Related

  • Studied Criticisms Of James Madison's Federalist 10

    343 Words  | 2 Pages

    James Madison’s Federalist 10 was written amid criticisms that a republican form of government had never been successful on a large scale. Madison’s argument was that a well-constructed union could control factions. He argued that in order to control factions from their causes, we would need to either give up liberty or free thought. Since we cannot infringe upon these two natural rights, we must move on to controlling the effects. A republic, Madison argues, would be able to do this because the people choose the representatives, and they choose representatives who they feel best represent their opinions.

    Read More

  • Federalist 10 Summary

    612 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first solution would defeat the ideology of the United States while the second is unfeasible as people will always have differing opinions and backgrounds. Madison then isolates and explains how the unequal distribution of property is the primary instigator of factional disputes, as every person’s self-interest prevents them from being an impartial judge. He dashes the idea of an “enlightened” or perfect leader who could always make the best decisions for the country, stating that such politicians would not always be in power and would not always make the best

    Read More

  • Federalist Papers Number 10 Analysis

    424 Words  | 2 Pages

    1787 was a time of change for government, and everyone had an opinion for how things should be ran. When James Madison wrote the Federalist Papers, Number 10 was about parties in government, or as he called them, “factions”. Madison says that an advantage of a “well constructed Union” would be the ability to “break and control the violence of faction”, yet he goes on to say that you cannot remove factions without removing liberty, and that will never happen. He said the only option was to try and control faction’s effects. In paragraph 8, he says that “the most powerful faction must be expected to prevail”; in other words, the most popular party with the majority of people and influence is expected to prevail over the minority party.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Federalist No. 10 James Madison

    944 Words  | 4 Pages

    Madison points out that another cause of factions is due to the difference in property. For example bankers and farmers have different economic interests. Banks push for a high interest rate in order to collect more money on the money they loan. Farmers on the other hand need to borrow to purchase land or equipment and want a low interest rate so there would be less money required to pay back. Since there are financial differences in society and everyone can’t have the same amount of property, Madison argues that a strong republic would bring these two fractions to a common ground.

    Read More

  • The Speech A Historic Filibuster On Corporate Greed And The Decline Of Our Middle Class

    1284 Words  | 6 Pages

    I think that Senator Sanders did a fine job in including and shifting also the focus on the solutions that will not only help the future of our country, but also the help the middle class. Although I understand that Senator Sanders has good purpose to bring to light the injustice that the middle class faces, we have to also face the reality that is that our political system has been made that the wealthy are the ones who have the most power and voice in our country. Not in a negative way, but in a sense that capitalism and wealth go hand in hand, therefore our country can no way evade this system that has been around for long. This book on Senator Sander’s speech, is relevant to our political system because it brings to light how a socialist mindset or behavior isn’t what helps or ultimately makes up our country, but proves that capitalism is how our system is

    Read More

  • Review Of The Federalist Fallacy: Popular Authority Under Elite Rule

    1934 Words  | 8 Pages

    Madison rhapsodizes at length about the dangers of factionalism under majority rule; he claims that “popular government [...] enables [the majority] to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest, both the public good and the rights of other citizens”, thus insinuating that popular rule in a system where “the causes of factionalism cannot be prevented” will ultimately devastate both the working class’s public good and the elite class’s private right (10). This fear mongering over majority rule acts as a ringing endorsement of the alternative: minority, or elite, political dominance. To ease the minds of his readers, Madison then declares that the working class of the new republic will be too spread out and otherwise divided to oppose the just government established by the upper class–or, in his words, lower classes will be “rendered, by their number and local situation, unable to concert and carry into effect schemes of oppression” against the elite (10). In this way, Madison promotes upper class rule as a means to protect American liberty, believing that the people at large were unfit to establish this protection themselves–and that they had neither the intelligence nor the unity to carry out their corrupt schemes under properly conducted elite

    Read More

  • Discussion Of The Relationship Between The Founders And The Constitution

    742 Words  | 3 Pages

    With this quote, Madison describes the Founders’ intent to design a government which could self-balance and obstruct the majority’s monetary impulses. Specifically, the Founders believed that factions, groups of people united by common interests and passions, would quickly assemble and attempt to impose their will on the nation out of self-interest. Consequently, the Founders fashioned the Constitution with in-built roadblocks, separation of powers along with checks and balances, to pit factions against one another to slow down the government’s legislative abilities. For instance, the Founders created two houses within Congress to cause factions from multiple constituencies to check one another. As stipulated by the Constitution, small districts

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Essay On The Federalist

    177 Words  | 1 Pages

    After reading The Federalist Papers #10, 48, and 51 I believe that James Madison saw human nature as being selfish and self-centered, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition" (319). Madison continues on to explicate on his previous thought, "It may be a reflection of human nature that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government" (319). The devices that he talks about are the checks and balances that Madison declares that the government needs. The government needs the checks and balances because Madison believes that trusting one man to govern everything just feeds the selfishness inside the chosen man, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary" (319).

    Read More

  • James Madison's Federalist No. 10

    231 Words  | 1 Pages

    James Madison’s writing of Federalist No. 10 examines the issues regarding the original Articles of Confederation, weighing and balancing the options of creating an effective government from a Federalist perspective. Madison’s attempt is to give the majority the power such as in a true democracy, though this raises the issue such that the majority may be in the wrong. In this, people of the minorities such as Madison himself being a wealthy citizen would need to “watch out” for the majority that they just gave the power to. Madison discussed how a republic system may be a solution to such a problem. He feels as if a republic would solve many of these solutions, yet cause more at the same time.

    Read More

  • The Key Of Liberty By William Manning Thesis

    790 Words  | 4 Pages

    He calls this list of remedies a “constitutional, cheap, easy, and sure method of conveying necessary knowledge among the Many” (Manning, p. 159). Described on this list are a list of demands that allow the Many to obtain knowledge of everything needed to succeed in a democracy including the difference of ideas, principles of democracy, laws, elections and new laws, political candidates and national debates both in government and among his peers. He then proceeds to propose the idea of a “Society of the Many” or laborers to help bring this idea into fruition. The goal of this establishment is to teach and inform those without much knowledge of democracy about how the republican system works and how their vote can influence their daily

    Read More

  • Ice Cream: Socialism Vs. Capitalism In Canada

    177 Words  | 1 Pages

    Democratic-socialist, Bernie Sanders, has no desire to seize control of the business sector and transfer the means of production to the people or the state -- rather, he wants to employ policies that require everyone to play by the same set of rules,

    Read More

  • Will Socialism Be Successful In America Today?

    1957 Words  | 8 Pages

    “Democracy is the road to socialism,” from the famous words of German Philosopher Karl Marx. In today’s day and age, there is an incredible shift to a more social, liberal agenda within American politics, to which embracing social reforms such as gender equality, feminism, same-sex marriage and so on is taking shape. As well as political shifts to more socialistic views in both restrictions on free trade and controlling big business monopolies in order to give more equality to workers and the less fortunate in both economics, and the political realm. This is the America of today and many are questioning the America of tomorrow. Many social scientists believe American society, economics and even politics is shifting toward socialistic

    Read More

  • Factions And Federalist Essay No. 10

    562 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the case of taxation, the more powerful of the two parties would have the opportunity to impose higher taxes on the minority, thus, saving themselves money. Madison firmly believed that the constitution had the ability to solve the problems created by factions. Madison envisioned a large republic that would make it difficult for corrupt candidates to get elected. Madison expressed this by stating, In the next place, as each representative will be chosen by a greater number of citizens in the large than in the small republic, it will be more difficult for unworthy candidates to practice with success the vicious arts by which elections are too often carried; and the suffrages of the people being more free, will be more likely to centre in men who possess the most attractive merit and the most diffusive and established characters.

    Read More

  • Madison's Views On Faction Summary

    501 Words  | 3 Pages

    Madison’s essay reflects the fear many had of a tyrannical government and the desire to ensure that the country didn’t revert back to that which it had just escaped from. He notes the necessity to prevent any one faction or group from gaining too much power and oppressing those in the minority. The separation of powers was set in place to ensure that this could not happen. Even if one group decides they want something, the other two have the equal authority to prevent it should it not represent the country as a whole.

    Read More

  • Advantages Of Federalist 51

    719 Words  | 3 Pages

    Madison brings up that it isn’t possible to divide power absolutely equally and “In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates.” (2). And so, the legislative branch will be divided even more to try and combat the unbalance of power. Madison thought this system was a good method because he believed that it was part of human nature to have conflicting ideas and wants, and so each branch could keep the others in line and therefor no one power is above the others. Furthermore, Madison believes a bigger government with multiple branches is better because then it becomes difficult for one

    Read More

More about Implications Of Bernie Sanders Speech On Democratic Socialism

Open Document