A collection
The Congress: House and Senate
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Federalist No. 52: The House of Representatives
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...
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Federalist No. 53: The Same Subject Continued: The House of Representatives
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...
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Federalist No. 54: The Apportionment of Members Among the States
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...
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Federalist No. 55: The Total Number of the House of Representatives
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...
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Federalist No. 56: The Same Subject Continued: The Total Number of the House of Representatives
Madison continues on House size, arguing that representatives need not know every local detail to legislate well. A working knowledge of the major interests of their districts, he holds, is...
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Federalist No. 57: The Alleged Tendency of the New Plan to Elevate the Few at the Expense of the Many Considered in Connection with Representation
Madison answers the charge that the new plan favors the wealthy few, arguing that elections bind representatives to the whole people. Nothing in the design, he holds, raises a privileged...
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Federalist No. 58: Objection That The Number of Members Will Not Be Augmented as the Progress of Population Demands Considered
Madison addresses the worry that the House will not grow with the population, arguing that the Constitution provides for regular reapportionment. The chamber, he holds, is built to keep pace...
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Federalist No. 59: Concerning the Power of Congress to Regulate the Election of Members
Hamilton defends giving Congress a backstop over its own elections, arguing that no government should depend wholly on others for its survival. The power is a safeguard against being quietly...
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Federalist No. 60: The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the Power of Congress to Regulate the Election of Members
Hamilton continues on election regulation, answering the fear that the power could be abused to favor one class of voters. The diversity of the country and the structure of elections,...
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Federalist No. 61: The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the Power of Congress to Regulate the Election of Members
Hamilton closes the election sequence by defending uniform federal standards for the time and manner of voting. Reasonable national rules, he argues, protect the integrity of elections without threatening the...
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Federalist No. 62: The Senate
Madison introduces the Senate, defending its equal state representation and longer terms as a stabilizing counterweight. A second chamber, more deliberate and less swayed by the moment, guards against the...
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Federalist No. 63: The Senate Continued
Madison continues on the Senate, arguing that a body with institutional memory gives the nation a sense of character and responsibility over time. The aim is a government that can...
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Federalist No. 64: The Powers of the Senate
Jay explains the Senate's role in treaties, defending the care and secrecy that foreign negotiation sometimes demands. The shared power of president and Senate, he argues, joins energy with deliberation...
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Federalist No. 65: The Powers of the Senate Continued
Hamilton takes up impeachment, explaining why the Senate is suited to try officials accused of abusing public trust. It is a political process for political offenses, he argues, and demands...
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Federalist No. 66: Objections to the Power of the Senate To Set as a Court for Impeachments Further Considered
Hamilton defends the Senate's impeachment role against the charge that it concentrates too much power. The arrangement, he argues, keeps accusation and judgment in separate hands and answers the worry...