The Federalist Papers

On Federalist No. 55: The Total Number of the House of Representatives, a Reading Room essay

On Federalist No. 55: The Total Number of the H...

Michael Fowler

Madison takes up the size of the House, answering fears that too few members cannot represent so many. He argues the number is adequate and will grow, and that a...

On Federalist No. 55: The Total Number of the H...

Michael Fowler

Madison takes up the size of the House, answering fears that too few members cannot represent so many. He argues the number is adequate and will grow, and that a...

On Federalist No. 54: The Apportionment of Members Among the States, a Reading Room essay

On Federalist No. 54: The Apportionment of Memb...

Michael Fowler

Madison addresses the fraught question of how to count population for representation and taxation, including the compromise over enslaved persons. The essay records the uneasy bargain plainly, a reminder of...

On Federalist No. 54: The Apportionment of Memb...

Michael Fowler

Madison addresses the fraught question of how to count population for representation and taxation, including the compromise over enslaved persons. The essay records the uneasy bargain plainly, a reminder of...

On Federalist No. 53: The Same Subject Continued: The House of Representatives, a Reading Room essay

On Federalist No. 53: The Same Subject Continue...

Michael Fowler

Madison continues on the House, defending the term length against the old belief that annual elections alone secure liberty. Sound representation, he argues, needs members who serve long enough to...

On Federalist No. 53: The Same Subject Continue...

Michael Fowler

Madison continues on the House, defending the term length against the old belief that annual elections alone secure liberty. Sound representation, he argues, needs members who serve long enough to...

On Federalist No. 52: The House of Representatives, a Reading Room essay

On Federalist No. 52: The House of Representatives

Michael Fowler

Madison turns to the House of Representatives, defending its two-year term and its direct tie to the people. Frequent elections, he argues, keep the chamber close to those it serves...

On Federalist No. 52: The House of Representatives

Michael Fowler

Madison turns to the House of Representatives, defending its two-year term and its direct tie to the people. Frequent elections, he argues, keep the chamber close to those it serves...

On Federalist No. 51: The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments, a Reading Room essay

On Federalist No. 51: The Structure of the Gove...

Michael Fowler

Madison delivers the architectural heart of the design: let ambition counter ambition, so that the structure itself restrains power. His famous observation that men are not angels grounds a government...

On Federalist No. 51: The Structure of the Gove...

Michael Fowler

Madison delivers the architectural heart of the design: let ambition counter ambition, so that the structure itself restrains power. His famous observation that men are not angels grounds a government...

On Federalist No. 50: Periodic Appeals to the People Considered, a Reading Room essay

On Federalist No. 50: Periodic Appeals to the P...

Michael Fowler

Madison weighs whether regular, scheduled appeals to the people might guard the constitution better, and finds them wanting as well. Both occasional and periodic appeals, he concludes, lean too hard...

On Federalist No. 50: Periodic Appeals to the P...

Michael Fowler

Madison weighs whether regular, scheduled appeals to the people might guard the constitution better, and finds them wanting as well. Both occasional and periodic appeals, he concludes, lean too hard...