Federalist Paper 10

Question 1

Author

Answer 1

James Madison

Question 2

Pure Democracy

Answer 2

Direct democracy in which every citizen votes directly for or against laws.

Question 3

Purpose

Answer 3

Advocating for the Constitution and representative democracy (as opposed to direct or pure democracy) to guard against factions that can be detrimental to the common good.

Question 4

Republic according to Madison

Answer 4

Representative government in which a group of people represent the public at large to make laws and govern.

Question 5

Why did Madison favor a Republic?

Answer 5

Filtering public views through a chosen body of citizens maximizes the chance that “patriotism and love of justice” will prevail over self-interest.

Question 6

Downside of a Republic

Answer 6

One or more representatives might betray the interests of the people.

Question 7

Madison’s solution for protecting against representatives betraying the people.

Answer 7

Make the representative body big, not small. But that requires a large country (republic), not a bunch of smaller independent states – in other words, support the Constitution – support a union of the states.

Question 8

Madison’s Optimal Size for a Representative Body.

Answer 8

Big enough to guard against corruption of the few but small enough to avoid confusion and chaos.

Question 9

Two Advantages of Large Republic

Answer 9

a) greater probability of a good choice of representatives and b) diversity in parties and interests, making it less likely that a majority will trample on the minority.

Question 10

What if the representative body is too small?

Answer 10

Representatives are not sufficiently acquainted with local interests. (each representative answers to too many voters.)

Question 11

What if the representative body is too big?

Answer 11

Representatives are too attached to local interests. (each representative answers to just a few voters.)

Question 12

Title of Federalist 10

Answer 12

The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection

Question 13

What was the response to Federalist 10

Answer 13

Brutus 1

Question 14

Key argument in Brutus 1

Answer 14

History is full of examples where the people have voluntarily increased the powers of their rulers but not very full of examples where rulers voluntary give up their powers. (In other words, be careful what you wish for.)

Question 15

What examples from the Constitution does Brutus use as supporting evidence?

Answer 15

“Congress shall have the power to make all laws … ,” and that those laws will be “ … the supreme law of the land.” – So, what’s the point of the states?

Question 16

Who was Brutus?

Answer 16

Politician and orator from the Roman Empire who opposed Caesar’s increasingly autocratic rule and became the most famous of Caesar’s assassins.

Question 17

Arguments made by Brutus.

Answer 17

a) in a small republic the interests of the people are more easily understood (is it really possible for a small representative body to speak on behalf of so many?) b) states are too dissimilar to make a unified government work, c) a representative body would have to be far too large to adequately deal with the size of a unified country, and c) a large republic makes corruption too easy and difficult to control.