Why the American Form of Government Works

The American form of government was the first one of its time, a bold experiment in a traditional world. Some time after gaining independence, James Madison, John Jay, and Thomas Jefferson wrote about the need to adopt a formal constitution for the governing of America. After all these years, our system of government has persisted and thrived. It has not been without its shortcomings and challenges, but it still stands as a symbol of our hard-earned freedom. What has allowed the Constitution to remain for so long a foundational document of American government? And what are the reasons why it fundamentally works?

The Federalist Essay #10, by James Madison, raises an important concern about the ability of the American government to handle discontent in minority or majority groups-what he refers to as "factions". He begins by maintaining that factions are an inevitable and naturally occurring part of a nation:

The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society…But the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society. Those who are creditors, and those who are debtors, fall under a like discrimination. A landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a moneyed interest, with many lesser interests, grow up of necessity in civilized nations, and divide them into different classes, actuated by different sentiments and views. The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation, and involves the spirit of party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of the government.

If factions are indeed a part of every society, then there must be a method used by the government to control and prevent these factions from becoming out of control. Madison gives several examples of ideas that would aim to fix this problem, but will ultimately fail. Interestingly, he explicitly states that a true democracy will never work:

A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking. Let us examine the points in which it varies from pure democracy, and we shall comprehend both the nature of the cure and the efficacy which it must derive from the Union.

The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest; secondly, the greater number of citizens, and greater sphere of country, over which the latter may be extended.

It would appear that Madison does not believe a democracy will not work in America, or any country for that matter, because of the large scale which it would require. One could see how this would become complicated, with every single different viewpoint of a United States citizen in play. Instead, Madison proposes a republic, differing from a democracy in the fact that the power to make governmental decisions lies in the hands of a few elected representatives. In this, we see how the American government works today-citizens vote to choose people who they trust will make the right decision. This way, there is more stability and less chance of complications happening. It is this that has made the republic system of government flourish in America and exist for so many years.

In the Federalist Essay #51, Madison explains the other key aspect of American government which allows it to be successful-the checks and balances system. Madison thought it crucial to include this portion:

The only answer that can be given is, that as all these exterior provisions are found to be inadequate, the defect must be supplied, by so contriving the interior structure of the government as that its several constituent parts may, by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places.

Madison begins his paper by outlining the need for the checks-and-balances system. Not going into specific details, he explains why the system he has described is important and what it means for the American governmental system.

It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. 

The most important reason a checks-and-balances system is necessary to include in the American government is the protection it provides the people. The checks of the other branches prevent one branch from becoming too powerful or harming the people in any way. The American form of government works because of it being a republic and the checks-and-balances which promote a fair and just government for the people.