"By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community." (Federalist No.10).
Madison portrays his point that if a group of people, minority or majority, are united and have common goals that they will be able to decide whats best for the community. By assuring that all factions of the US share commonalities in their personal needs, it makes the chances of a certain faction gaining more power and thinking only for themselves. People are selfish by nature and to make one another work together a nation must appeal to what the people want. without common interest or representatives a government would fail.
"In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this inconveniency is to divide the legislature into different branches; and to render them, by different modes of election and different principles of action, as little connected with each other as the nature of their common functions and their common dependence on the society will admit." (Federalist No.51)
In Madison's Federalist No.51 he explains the problem of a certain faction of government gaining more power than others and how to solve such problem. A great fear with all types of government is that those in power will take advantage of it and over rule the common people. The US created a system of checks and balances to combat the possibility of this happening. This system works first by having multiple branches of government. Next, by making sure each branch has substantial differences so that if one branch took over the other wouldn't benefit. Lastly, this system relies on the fact that each branch has certain powers over the other branches. This way, if any branch begins to become too powerful, other branches can check them, creating a balance.
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