Federalism Flashcards
Why articles of confederation failed
National gov had no power to tax
No independent leadership position to direct the gov
National gov couldn’t regulate interstate and foreign commerce
Fight for ratification
Opposing groups- Federalists and Antifederalists squared off against one another in 13 diff state wide campaigns over the ratification f the constitution
Federalists
Property owners
Favoured stronger central gov
Feared excessive democracy and promotion of political elites
Antifederalists
Small farmers
Favoured retaining power in state gov
Generally more democratic
Why was federalist 10 written
To counter the argument that democracies inevitably dissolve into turmoil and disorder caused by factions which ignore the national interest in favour of their own interests
Motivating concern
Aligning human nature (with its selfish impulses) towards the common good
What is a faction
Number of citizens, either minority/majority that is united by a common impulse/passion adverse to the rights of other citizens/the best interest of the community
What did M argue?
A strong big Republic would be a better guard against dangers of factions
What causes a faction
Unequal distribution of property
Why are factions a problem
Most powerful faction will control the gov and make decisions based not on the common good, but to benefit itself
Other groups and common good will suffer
M’s view on direct democracy
A danger to individual rights
-advocated a representative democracy to protect individual liberty from majority rule/ effects of inequality within society
Dilemma of pure democracy
People assemble and administer the gov in person
Pure democracy can only exist in small geographical area
Inevitably fall victim to mischief of faction
They fail because they’re unable to protect individual liberty and rights of property
Would removing the causes of faction solve the problem
No
Removing factions: destroying Liberty
Impossible to perform
Liberty is essential to political life
Removing factions: creating society homogenous in opinions and interests
Impractical
Economic stratification prevents everyone from sharing the same opinion
What is the only way to reduce damage caused by a faction?
Limited only by controlling its effects
Where does the main problem of a faction come from
The majority faction
2 ways to check majority factions
1) prevent the existence of the same passion/interest in a majority at the same time
2) render a majority faction unable to act
Problems with a small democracy
Can’t avoid the dangers of majority faction
- small size means undesirable passions= very easily spread to majority of people
- -can then easily spread through democratic gov without difficulty
Confederation
An organisation which consists of a number of parties/groups United in an alliance
Loose association of independent states that agree to cooperate on specified matters
-each state has supreme power within its border
-central government is weak
Republic
Citizens elect representatives to make policy decisions and administer the gov on their behalf
Common people’s decisions are affected by self-interest
Advantages of a large republic
Provides bigger candidate pool from which to select fit leaders
Large electorate is less likely to select undesirable leaders than is small
Larger territory will include greater diversity of interests
Majority faction is unlikely to emerge
Dilemma of district size
Large electoral district- representative may be too little acquainted with local interests to represent them effectively
Federalist 51: why do we need separation of powers
Individuals given power will use it for personal advantage
Members of each department should be as little dependent as possible from each other
What aims must a constitution balance between
1) sufficient capacity for governance
2) effective control over the leadership
Auxiliary precautions
Checks and balances
Federalism
Auxiliary precautions: checks and balances
Allow for a system based regulation that allows 1 branch to limit another
BUT: may limit opp for change
Exacerbated by supermajorities needed to achieve cloture in the senate (filibuster)
Madison’s dystopian utopia
Factions= bad Lots of (bad) factions = good
