Modern society considers majority decision to be just. J.J. Rousseau, James Madison and Alexis de Tocqueville provide us with different accounts that show under what circumstance that is true and what are some weaknesses of this approach. For Rousseau the goal of a governing body was to manifest the general will. In Rousseau’s eyes for a government to achieve this, the society must be small and homogenous. Using this framework, Madison could not solve the Federalist issue (how to justify a strong central government in a large pluralistic territory). In his Federalist Papers the primary problem of governing becomes the issue of factions and mitigating their harmful effects on majority decision making in a large republic. This is important to …show more content…
To him, the exercise of sovereignty itself depended on an adequate determination of the general will. This leads us to the question of the proportion of vote necessary to produce just outcome that discovers the general will. Although, the institutional features of Rousseau’s writing are incomplete and often too trivial, his goal was to convert his theoretical work in a law for the common good. His main focus remains on describing voting rules that will in fact identify the general will as opposed to individual will or its sums. Rousseau goes on to define what the general will is. One of the goals was to solve the problem of the “tyranny of the majority.” Rousseau sought to figure out how it was possible for citizens to be “both free and subject to laws to which they have not consented?” Can they “conform to wills which are not [their] own” but still be free? To Rousseau the answer was to frame the laws so that they reflect the “general will” and not the “will of all.” Only and only then the majority rule would in fact be just and not resolve in majority …show more content…
Rather he noticed an unlikely consensus between the citizens of the United States who rarely ever saw the laws enacted by the majority as arbitrary or unjustly coercive. Unlike Madison, Tocqueville put institutions on the secondary level of importance. He maintained that political institutions usually reflect the social conditions of a society, thus an institutional change could not recast its direction. In Democracy in America he writes that “[he] is convinced that the most advantageous situation and the best laws cannot maintain a constitution in spite of customs of the country” (I,
James Madison’s Federalist #10 outlines one of the key strengths of the U.S. Constitution; specifically, how our government guards against and uses factions. In particular, Madison focuses on the struggle between the majority and minority factions. He goes in depth to explain how the setup of the government prevents the development of an overbearing and abusive majority faction that might seek to deprive the minority faction of its rights. Madison begins by explaining that every argument or issue produces two sides, one of which will be numerically superior. Under direct democratic rule, this group would be able to impose their will upon the minority without any limitations; this could lead to impulsive decisions that ultimately are not in the public’s best interest.
Throughout this document, Alexis De Tocqueville explained to the audience his own interpretation of Democracy in America. At some points, Tocqueville compares the American democracy to the European democracy. Tocqueville begins this document by stating that “In America, the authority exercised by the legislatures is supreme:nothing prevents them from accomplishing their wishes with celerity and with irresistible power, and they are supplied with new representatives every year. ”(Tocqueville pg 257). Tocqueville also points out that America is the country where laws last the shortest time.
Roxi Wessel Professor Anderson Political Science 232 17 March 2023 The Federalist Fallacy: Popular Authority Under Elite Rule In the fall of 1787, three men embarked on a quest of words and wits to push for the ratification of the new United States Constitution in the state of New York. Collectively known as “Publius”, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison used their 85-essay series, entitled the Federalist, to defend the constitutional approach to government, justifying choices as broad as centralized government and as narrow as the presidential age requirement. However, one of Publius’s central arguments–that the final political authority of the United States, under the Constitution, will reside solely with the people–falls
Essentially, meaning that factions would naturally develop as men have differing opinions regarding such things as religion, politics, and attachment to different political leaders. However, Madison states that the most common source of factions was the unequal distribution of property. It is through this issue that Madison first raises the best way at limiting faction, starting with the flaws of a “pure democracy” (Johnson,
To combat this issue, and the others within the Articles, the Constitution was drafted to provide a layout for the country with a stronger government without invading the liberty of the people. The government under the Articles were subjected to the will majority in any conflict and Madison claimed that “there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual”. The liberties of the people and the authority of the government were drastically diminished when faced against a majority in a purely democratic country because of the full control that party gained to push their own agenda. James Madison’s argument on the Constitution’s ability to fight faction was, “Whilst all authority in it will be derived from and dependent on the society, the society itself will broken into so many parts… the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority.” The government will still be able to possess authority over states and people, however, instead of just two contrasting parties where there has to be a majority, a republic forges multiple differentiating groups and ideas that makes factions less probable.
Federalist Paper number 10 by James Madison, was issued on November 22, 1787. The issue that this paper addressed was that of factions which would promote their own socioeconomic agenda while disregarding everyone else’s. The objection this paper had versus the new Constitution was that a large strong republic was best in order to reduce minor separate republics. This particular paper was organized by Madison in a way that explains the different options on how to deal with factions.
They traveled over to America and stayed for nine months to “study” the prisons. However, he accomplished a lot more than what he came here to do. Alexis made quite a few observations about America, these observations will be discussed throughout the paper. One of the many observations Alexis de Tocqueville made during his stay in america is the principle sovereignty of the the people.
Outline on Federalist No. 10 • The instability, injustice and confusion in public council are the mortal diseases in popular governments. • James Madison tells us that valuable improvement made by constitution on the popular models for both ancient and modern cannot certainly admired, but they have effectually obviated the danger. • Madison gave the explanation about complaints heard from citizens on unstable government and measures decided by superior force of interest or major parties, but not by justice and rights of minor parties. • Factions are group of people who are against the government and get united for common impulse and adverse to the rights of other citizens or permanent and aggregated interests of the community. • Madison tells
However, Tocqueville argues that this is not an occurrence in America because "public officials promote no class interests" (Tocqueville 274). Furthermore, Tocqueville believes that this operation of American democracy increases political efficacy amongst its citizens. When people's interests are addressed, they feel as if they can have a meaningful impact upon the workings of their governments. Tocqueville's opinion is justifiable in that, people possessing a significant role in their society contributes greatly to an effectual
Throughout this paper, this material will be further explained and examined through several different ideas and articles. The first idea that will be discussed, regarding the principles presented above, can be demonstrated through the article, The Right of “Free Suffrage” (1776). This article
James Madison's disputes traditional claims that democracy required virtuous citizens who actively participate in the political life of the country to be successful with the opposing argument "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. " This statement explains the thought that the way the power was divided within a government could provide a more successful mechanism to protect democracy. James Madison's affirmation in some ways describe the idea of popular participation and citizenship in that popular participation should come from citizens own want and willingness and not be completely depended upon. James Madison's argument operationalized in the U.S. Constitution after two-thirds of the thirteen states individually ratified or approved
In Federalist Paper No. 10, James Madison wrote, “Measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.” These same founders intended for Americans to have a republican form of limited government where political decision-making is kept to the minimum.
Furthermore, taking the work as a whole, one finds that main problems of a democracy are the following: a disproportionately high portion of power in the legislative branch, an abuse of or lack of love for freedom, an excessive drive for equality, individualism, and materialism. The elements that Tocqueville believes can most successfully combat these dangerous democratic tendencies are: an independent and influential judiciary, a strong executive branch, local self-government, administrative de-centralization, religion, well-educated women, freedom of association, and freedom of the press. Tocqueville directly applies this newfound thesis to American democracy and explains how this situation can affect the United States. He references this thesis in talking about the pros and cons to American democracy, specifically the dangers and benefits of the
INTRODUCTION Jean Jacque Rousseau was born in the city state of Geneva, Switzerland in 1772. Rousseau is primarily known for major works like- The Social Contract, Emile, Discourse on the origin of Inequality, the Constitutional Project for Corsica, and Consideration on the Government of Poland. What makes Rousseau such an important figure in the history of philosophy is because of his contribution to both political and moral philosophies and his concept of ‘general will’, which also gained him a lot of criticism. Apart from his philosophical and political contribution, he was also a novelist, an autobiographer, botanist, composer and also a music theorist.
If examine this statement closer, one could find the core values of Rousseau’s utopian version of the General Will. The first core value of the General Will Rousseau had suggested was that it was a collective will from everyone. Indeed, Rousseau believed that “Each of us puts his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will” (Rousseau 8). In other words, the General Will Rousseau was advocating was the will that “both come from all and apply to all.” Correspondingly, Sieyes applied this idea and indicated that the law was at the center of the nation and the will of the Nation is the result of individual will (Lualdi 116), which both suggested that the General Will should come from all.