James
Madison was involved in virtually every area of government of the new
United States eventually becoming the fourth President.
Together with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, Madison wrote a series of letters to newspapers urging ratification of the U.S. Constitution. These letters sought to overcome the resistance of states to giving up power to the new federal government. They argued that a strong central government, with a system of checks and balances, was not a threat to states' rights but rather its guarantor. In the letter given here, Madison deals with the issue of factions in politics. He argues that while the causes of factions cannot be justly eliminated, the effects can. Madison claims that the representative (or "republican") form of government laid out in the Constitution will control the dangerous consequences of factionalism where a "pure" democracy cannot.
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From Forrest Baird, Human Thought and Action (University Press of America, © 1992)