Why does the American form of government work?

      To explore this question, it is necessary to read the early documents that helped found the United States and the issues that the writers of the constitution had to face.  In his famous Federalist Essay #10, James Madison notes that natural human disagreement and self interest are among the chief problems in a society. The American form of government can't exacerbate this issue, but its polling system gives its people the feeling that the power is more evenly spread because it is based on popular opinion.

  "If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote," Madison points out.  Basically, if a vote is unpopular and "sinister", it won't be adopted, which is inconvenient for a small percentage of landowners but best for the common good.

      He continues to say, "It may convulse the society; but it will be unable to execute and mask its violence under the forms of the Constitution.  When a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens.  To secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and form of popular government, is then the great object to which our inquiries are directed." In other words, the social classes themselves cannot be eliminated, so popular government is the best solution because it provides for the needs most people, instead of the wants of the "best" people.

      Madison also notes the importance of a strong centralized government in The Federalist Essay #51.  He claims that,"In order to lay a due foundation for that separate and distinct exercise of the different powers of government, which to a certain extent is admitted on all hands to be essential to the preservation of liberty, it is evident that each department should have a will of its own."  He imports the value of specialized departments, or branches, because it can counteract the "abuses of government" such as one person having total authority, or using power in a corrupt way.  This section in the article can be seen as an extension to the previous article because it is based on the same principles: trying to please as many different people as possible.   Madison wants the government to have multiple branches so that it represents a larger body, just like the idealized American polling system.

     Taken together, it is clear why the republican government system has had more success than others: by placing power among the greatest number of people, it aims to eliminate corruption and provide for the needs of the majority.  In turn, the American government system pleases the most people, and faces negligible backlash in comparison to the vested monarchs of Britain's past.