Factions

Throughout the Federalist 10, Madison touches on something called factions quite often, which refer to the different political parties and factions that the new Constitution called for. Madison thought that factions would better represent the citizens, for minorities and women would have more of a say. He believed that factions would ultimately blur the line between majority and minority, rich and poor, and men and women; in other words, the playing ground would be leveled. One advantage, according to Madison in Federalist 10, of factions is that it prevents one group from becoming too powerful, working similarly to the checks and balance system.

Questions for Madison:

1. Could there potentially be any disadvantages of factions?
2. How will factions prevent the majority groups from dominating the minority groups?
3. What are the effects of factions?
4. Which groups of people do you think benefit most from factions, if any?

To me, factions seem the be groups within larger groups, such as the Democratic and Republican parties are sub-groups of the American government. These groups all have different political purposes that distinguish them from the other factions. In some way, factions seem to me to be sort of like clubs; the members work together to achieve a common goal.

In today's politics, our state governments are factions because there are smaller political administrations among one larger administration. Sometimes, these state factions have opposing views of the national government, so they must work to defend themselves and promote their own needs and desires. In some cases, each state has different laws because they are their own "group," and yet they are all part of the American government.
Another example of present-day factions are the different groups that compose the Republican Party. Although they share many beliefs, the conservative, neoconservative, libertarian, tea party, fiscal, and the social Republicans do conflict on some issues, such as foreign policy and the national debt.