Why does the American form of government work?

Gavin Stockton
Period 1



Federalist essay #10

In the Federalist essay #10 the author states, "From this view of the subject it may be concluded that a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert result from the form of government itself, and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions." In this quote, it is mentioned that a pure democracy would not be able to function as the American government because of every human selfishness and need to have more power than other, therefore there must be a democratic republic. The reason for a democratic republic instead of a pure democracy is that there cannot be one main form of power because that set of people would abuse their power, thus making it necessary for multiple branches of government that can have the same amount of power. Going further into the essay "No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity. With equal, nay with greater reason, a body of men are unfit to be both judges and parties at the same time;" Expanding on the first quote, this quote shows how the government has a dispersed group of government power in order to keep a people from having too much power compared to someone else. 

Federalist essay #51

In the Federalist essay #13, the author has a similar point to essay #10, the author states "Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it is obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit." Showing how the main objective of the American government was to create equality among men and women and give justice to everyone to create a fair society. Furthermore, they go on to state, "A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions. " Showing how there are two major parts of the federal government in order to keep one group from having too mush major political power. They also made the electoral college to have a safety net in case the population made the wrong decisions.