Why Does the American Form of Government Work?

The Federalist Paper No. X 

"There are two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects. There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests."

"There are two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects. There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests." 

As the tenth of the Federalist Papers written by James Madison, Madison saw factions within the society as inevitable due to the nature of people, meaning as long as men have differing opinions, own differing amounts of wealth, and possess differing amount of property, they will continue to form alliances with people who are most similar to them. Thus, Madison questions the system and ponders on how to guard against public angers when similar individuals gather and infringe upon the rights of others. Under The Federalist Paper No. X, the American form of government functions efficiently because the government can restrain and limit the liberty of factions properly and fairly with adequate representation. Maddison suggests that a republican form of government will be more effective against factions than a democratic form of government so that the majority cannot impose its will on the minority, and the majority cannot take away inalienable rights.

The Federalist Paper No. 51

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself." 

"In a single republic, all the power surrendered by the people, is submitted to the administration of a single government; and usurpations are guarded against by a division of the government into distinct and separate departments. In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people, is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the portion allotted to each, subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence a double security arises on the rights of the people. The different governments will control each other; at the same time that each will be controlled by itself."

James Madison's purpose for The Federalist Paper No. 51 is to address the importance of maintaining separate branches of government in order to establish a well functioned form of government. Madison suggested the system of Checks and Balances, which derives the power between groups and individuals. As a result of Checks and Balances, political power is ensured to not be concentrated and dependent on a specific group in society. Overall, the American form of government work because the separation of power within the national government is advocated.