Why the American Style of Government Works

Exerpt from Federalist Paper No. 10

" The effect of the first difference is, on the one hand, to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations. Under such a regulation, it may well happen that the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves, convened for the purpose."

Response: 

In this excerpt from Federalist paper No. 10, Madison argues his belief that a more representative style of government "works" through his comparison of the use of representatives vs. full on democracy and the pros and cons of both. At beginning of the passage, Madison argues how passing public views and opinions through elected representatives "may best discern the true interest of their country," as their "patriotism and love for justice will be least likely to sacrifice them to temporary or partial considerations," showing his belief that electing representatives rather than having free suffrage for all citizens on all matters may be a better option, as their wisdom and proven ability to keep collected would be better for the nation than the opinion of a large group of citizens, which could be subject to mob mentality and less objective opinions. He reaffirms this by also stating that "the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves," showing his ideology that America could have a more republican government in which representatives speak for the people rather than the people themselves, however those representatives are voted in by the people, therefore keeping the government more democratic and having a liberal system that "works" and indirectly creates a government of the people. 


Exerpt from Federalist Paper No. 51

“In a single republic, all the power surrendered by the people is submitted to the administration of a single government… The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.”

In this excerpt from Federalist Paper No.51 Madison gives yet another example of a government style that, in his eyes, "works," and is actually the style of government that we have adopted into our nation over the last two centuries and continue to use today in the form of the three branch system. In this quote, Madison describes a style of government broken up into multiple mini-governments in which "the different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself ," thus creating a perfect system in which no part of the government can become to powerful, checking the possibility of over-centralization or tyranny. In the form of the Judicial, Executive, and Legislative branches established in our government today, we can see Madison's ideology living on as a core part of American political philosophy, each having enough power to make a difference individually and check the power of other branches, but none having the power to dominate one another completely and throw off balance of power.