A collection
Republican Principles and the Structure of Power
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Federalist No. 37: Concerning the Difficulties of the Convention in Devising a Proper Form of Government
Madison steps back to reflect on how hard the Convention's task really was, balancing stability against liberty and the claims of large states against small. The essay is an unusually...
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Federalist No. 38: The Same Subject Continued, and the Incoherence of the Objections to the New Plan Exposed
Madison contrasts the Convention's collaborative work with the scattered objections raised against it, noting that critics agree the Confederation is failing but cannot agree on anything better. The plan, he...
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Federalist No. 39: The Conformity of the Plan to Republican Principles
Madison asks whether the proposed government is truly republican and answers carefully: it is, drawing its authority from the people and its officers from the people's choice. He also shows...
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Federalist No. 40: The Powers of the Convention to Form a Mixed Government Examined and Sustained
Madison defends the Convention against the charge that it exceeded its mandate, arguing that the country's safety was the higher duty. The delegates, he holds, were right to propose what...
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Federalist No. 41: General View of the Powers Conferred by the Constitution
Madison surveys the powers the Constitution grants, sorting them by the purposes they serve: defense, foreign relations, commerce, and the general welfare. The aim is to show that each power...
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Federalist No. 42: The Powers Conferred by the Constitution Further Considered
Madison continues through the granted powers, taking up foreign affairs, commerce among the states, and related authorities. He argues these belong naturally at the national level, where uniform rules prevent...
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Federalist No. 43: The Same Subject Continued: The Powers Conferred by the Constitution Further Considered
Madison examines the remaining miscellaneous powers, from the seat of government to the guarantee of republican government in every state. The essay reads as a careful accounting, each provision matched...
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Federalist No. 44: Restrictions on the Authority of the Several States
Madison explains the limits the Constitution places on the states, the bans on coining money, impairing contracts, and the like. These restrictions, he argues, protect the union and the citizen...
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Federalist No. 45: The Alleged Danger From the Powers of the Union to the State Governments Considered
Madison answers the fear that federal power threatens the states, arguing the reverse is the more natural risk. The powers left to the states are many and close to daily...
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Federalist No. 46: The Influence of the State and Federal Governments Compared
Madison compares the pull of state and federal loyalties and predicts citizens will keep a closer attachment to their states. That attachment, plus the states' own structures, forms a standing...
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Federalist No. 47: The Particular Structure of the New Government and the Distribution of Power Among Its Different Parts
Madison takes up the separation of powers, answering the charge that the new government dangerously mixes them. Drawing on Montesquieu, he shows that separation never meant total isolation, only that...
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Federalist No. 48: These Departments Should Not Be So Far Separated as to Have No Constitutional Control Over Each Other
Madison argues that parchment boundaries between the branches are not enough on their own. The legislature in particular tends to draw power toward itself, so the design must give each...
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Federalist No. 49: Method of Guarding Against the Encroachments of Any One Department of Government by Appealing to the People Through a Convention
Madison considers Jefferson's idea of settling disputes between branches by appealing to the people through conventions, and gently sets it aside. Frequent appeals, he warns, would unsettle the very stability...
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Federalist No. 50: Periodic Appeals to the People Considered
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...
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Federalist No. 51: The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments
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...