Why were the founders so concerned about the “danger of factions”? How does the Constitution address this problem?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

James Madison, George Washington, and many other Founding Fathers all saw a dangerous trend in the growth of factions, which are groups of self-interested people that wish to use government to achieve a specific set of goals while trampling on the rights of others. In today’s world, we would call these political parties and special-interest groups. Madison saw the danger not only in the actions of self-interested people but in the concerted effort to achieve the goals of a group despite the needs, interests, or rights of others. These factions were seen as the most dangerous challenge to the life of a republic. In order to control the impact of factions, a system of separated powers and checks and balances was put into the Constitution to control them. Madison argued that factions could be eliminated but only through an unacceptable means—the establishment of an authoritarian government. Since this would be contrary to the intent of establishing a democratic republic, Madison recognized that factions could not be eliminated but needed to be recognized and tolerated. The solution, according to Madison, was the creation of an extended republic, which was a republic so large and diverse with so many factions vying for power that no one faction is able to assert its will over the others. This was used as evidence against the charge that republics were too big to govern. The Constitution itself created this new “extended republic” with sufficient controls so as to limit the ability of any one faction to gain power over the government.