America’s Founders were familiar with some of the more negative tendencies of our digital public square. You see, people are human. They were in the late 1700s and they still are today.
In the Federalist papers, James Madison considered the problem of factions.
Federalist Papers and factions
The Federalist Papers were instrumental in shaping public understanding of the Constitution. They were written and circulated before it was ratified in 1788. Today courts and scholars seeking to understand the meaning of the Constitution’s text regularly cite them.
The tenth essay in the series is well known and considered important for its insight. Despite its age, Federalist 10 is relevant today. Its lessons are especially relevant because we are in a time of heightened political partisanship. Today social media gives the most strident opinions a power and prominence disproportionate to the number of people who hold them.
The problems they pose to the republic
In Federalist 10 Madison discusses the problems factions pose to a republic. Factions are groups “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.” Factions are a problem when they obtain political power. They put their interests above the common good.
Madison acknowledged that “the public good is often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.” In plainer language, a faction comprising a majority of the people may trample the rights of minorities in pursuit of its specific priorities.
A remedy from Madison
Madison proposes a remedy to this problem. A properly structured republican form of government. He asserts in such a government one representatives calm the passions of factions. They behave like long-term stewards of the health of the country. Madison explained representatives should “refine” public opinion. Their “wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country,” and their “patriotism and love of justice, will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations.”
Do you think of Congress today as a bastion of wisdom, reason, and justice? Would you say most of its Members are genuine statesmen? Are they putting the interest of the country over their own? If we ask ourselves these questions perhaps we will vote differently. Federalist 10 or Bust.
Many representatives have allowed themselves to be captured by factions. They seem more interested in advancing those factions’ agendas than working towards the good of the entire nation. Probably that is true because they believe it is in their personal interests to do so.
Today versus 250 years ago
Unlike the factions Madison describes today’s factions are not tyrannical majorities. Rather, they are tyrannical minorities who shout with voices louder than their numbers suggest. Still, they do wield political power. Frequently use that power to advance what is a narrow, self-centered crusade.
Factions are regularly assisted by politicians eager to create division. They engage in identity politics. They threaten the independence of the judiciary. Factions propose unconstitutional policies in order to pander to particular interest groups.
It is a little naïve to ask what happened to Madison’s wise and just representatives. There has always been passionate partisanship throughout our history. But ideals provide us a target to strive for. Historically representatives have generally agreed the Constitution sets certain rules of engagement.
The challenge
The modern moment is unique in that our constitutional form of government is itself under attack. The Constitution’s constraints are often seen as a barrier to factions’ policy aims. They are no longer the bulwark against tyranny that they are. Madison called on representatives to “refine and enlarge” the views of their constituents so that “the public voice . . . will be more consonant with the public good.” Today’s politicians would do well to heed that sage advice.
Conclusion
We have no quick fix to restore Congress to Madison’s ideal. Our republican form of government requires self-restraint. It requires representatives willing to remember that they are not merely advocates for the loudest or wealthiest of their constituents. Rather, they are stewards of a great but delicate constitutional experiment. We need them to do this above all else. Therein lies our best hope for the future of the government. Federalist 10 or Bust.