Democracy's Faction Problem: How to Solve It? - Essay Sample

Introduction

Madison (1787) argues that the main challenge faced by democracies in the world is the domination of minority factions by overbearing majority groups, which use the popular sovereignty principle to keep the minority out of power. Owing to the liberty instituted in democratic systems, the struggle for power between contending groups can easily degenerate to factions.

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How Solve the Problem

Unfortunately, faction is an innate human characteristic that cannot be prevented. This problem can only be solved by mitigating the effects of faction. However, this is not easy as to do in a pure democracy as in a republic. He describes pure democracy as government system in which all citizens exercise the right to vote for or against laws. A republic in this case, is system where laws are voted by a few representatives elected by the citizens. He believes that it is better for the community to have representatives that pronounce their voice because it helps to avoid chaos.

The Solution

There are two ways to minimize the adverse effects of faction - to eliminate the things that cause faction, and to mitigate its impact. One way of removing the things that lead to faction is to abolish liberty, which Madison (1787) describes as the fuel of faction in a democracy. However, it is challenging to do way with liberty since it is an essential aspect of politics. It is so important that many Americans had to pay the ultimate price for it in the American Revolution.

The second way is to make the society have the same interests and opinions, which is essentially impractical. The people rely on their diverse abilities for success and that means the government needs to safeguard the right to inequality of property. Because of economic stratification, here is no way an entire society can be homogeneous in opinion. Hence, the only practical way to control the negative effects of faction is to mitigate its impact so that they do weaken the society.

The Better Solution

According to Madison, majority factions can be checked in two ways. It is by either disabling the majority faction or ensuring that the society does not share the same interest or passion at any given time. Therefore, the dangers of majority faction will be more pronounced in small democracies because of the ease with which undesirable passions spread in it.

Madison argues that a large republic is better than a small republic when it comes to choosing the right personalities to present the will of the public. There is higher chance of electing competent characters in a large republic where there are more candidates and voters. It gives the electorate a wider option. Candidates would also find it easier to manipulate voters in a small republic than in a large one. Also, a large republic has fewer varieties of interests and parties, making is easier to get a majority. Out of that majority, there will be a lower number of participants, and because they occupy a smaller territory, they can agree and accomplish ideas more easily. A large republic will have a greater variety of interests, making it harder to get a majority. Even where there is a majority, they would not find is easier to work unite and work together due to their large number and wide distribution.

Reference

Madison, J. (1787). The union as a safeguard against domestic faction and insurrection. The Federalist, (10), 9. http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm