October 2

"Democracy is the most vile form of government...democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention...and in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths."

James Madison, 4th President, 1809-1817. From The Federalist Papers, #10.The American Revolutionary War ended in 1781 and in 1788, we are still figuring out what our best form of government would be. One portion of the the debate was whether we should have strong state governments or a strong central government. Another part of the debate was whether we should have democracy and pure majority rule or a variation. Madison suggests a republic form of government would be better. "...it may be concluded that a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert result from the form of government itself; and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions. 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..."