Faction - The Permanent Malady of the Republic

Madison spends Federalist 10 defining the deepest concern with regard to the American Republic – the malady of faction. While he considered the difficulties of governmental structure ones that could be overcome, Madison believed the causes of faction were incurable because they are sewn in the nature of man.

The following video is a clip from Lecture 3: “The Problem of Majority Faction” from Hillsdale’s Online Course: “The Federalist Papers” featuring Dr. Paul Moreno.

Watch the full lecture

Transcript:

Paul Moreno:  Madison says that the most persistent problem that Republican government faces is the problem of faction, and he famously gives his definition of faction in the 10th Federalist. “By faction,” he says, “I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and activated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.” Madison goes on to explain that you can either try to eliminate the causes of faction or you can try to control the effects of faction. But he again very importantly notes that the causes of faction are, he says, sewn in the nature of man. They are part of human nature, and therefore, they cannot be eliminated unless you want to eliminate or try to transform human nature.