A Comparison of The Federalist Argument No. 10 and The Tyranny of the Majority
The Federalist No. 10 by James Madison and The Tyranny of the Majority by Alexis de Tocqueville are two political papers which analyze some parts of the American constitution. Each of the authors have their own distinct thoughts on the constitution and they agree in some areas, and, differ drastically in others.
To start, a topic that is touched upon in both of these documents was the fact that although it may not be in the best interest of the general public, the needs of the many will outweigh the needs of the few. This is also know as the concept of majority. Although Madison was trying to prove the constitution was a worthy government plan, he yet was honest in his Federalist No. 10. He knew that there would be drawbacks to the factions that were beginning to form. Yet, he was sure to sate the brighter side of the picture about the factions and how the government planned to limit the number of parties to prevent a non-majority. He also came to the conclusion that when a majority has been reached it has two options. First, the majority can continue being the winning argument and virtually control the minority. Or, if the majority sees fit, it can surrender it position of control and give the power to the minority therefore limiting the absolute power of the minority.
Tocqueville on the other stated his views on the factions from the view of an unlimited faction republic. He wrote that majority was impossible with unlimited factions due to that they would be so numerous and inadequate in size for there to even be a chance for a majority. Another thing that Tocqueville had theorized was that if a government ran simply upon majority rule, there would be a great upset in the balance of law. There would be this upset due to that the majority would vote one way and there would be no other option on the subject. For example, a man killed an attempted murderer in self defense. Giving the majority the benefit of the doubt, the majority turns out to be that he is innocent because it was in self-defense. But on the other side, is the man who killed in self defense any less a murderer than the murderer himself? Tocqueville believed that is why America built laws around the majority to secure everyones rights whether they were wrong or right.
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Another topic that both Madison and Tocqueville covered in their essays was the election and characteristics of the representatives. Tocqueville classified our beliefs in what our representatives very similar to what Madison did. Tocqueville said that the representative should be elected immediately by the public as to choose the best persona for the position. The representative should also serve a short term due to public concern of his actions on whether to keep him, or, to get him out of there as soon as possible if his actions do not fulfill the needs of the people. They representatives from both houses should be nominated and elected in the same to show that the two houses are equal just pertaining to different matters, so, it should be as if the legislation was almost a one-house legislation. Madison had a lot of the same views upon representatives. Saying that representatives would be elected by the public, frequent elections for centering in men with the greatest ability and such were all agreeing with Tocquevilles ideals. But one thing Madison mentioned was the proportion of representation. For instance, if a republic is small representatives must be raised to a certain number to avoid the bias ideas of the few, and, in the opposite, if a republic is large representatives must be lowered to avoid the confusion of many.
Another common topic found in these two documents is the importance of the individual. Tocqueville, in his essay, completely denies the importance of the individual. His ideas were that do to the process of the majority that one can think differently and live for him/herself, but, it would mean nothing. It would mean nothing because what is one voice in a majority? Majorities usually have a common interest, or a single goal, that they wish to see out, and no one person who thinks otherwise can change the majority. Madison saw things differently. In The Federalist No. 10 his entire view for writing the document was based on a more population controlled government, the Constitution. Throughout the entire essay you see Madison focusing on the advantages the individual will gain through the ratification of the Constitution. The right to elect delegates of the legislative body as one sees fit, to have the security of public good and private rights.
Madison also takes the time to describe the government that the public will enter under the constitution and the type of representation they will receive. Not to mention that the public will directly elect the representatives to the legislative body.
Alexis de Tocqueville and James Madison covered a lot of the same topics in there essays. Majority, representation, and the importance of the individual were the three main topics though. They both had issues they agreed upon and other that there were no similarities at all. But, these two essays are probably some of the best works written on the American Government.
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A Comparison of The Federalist Argument No. 10 and The Tyranny of the Majority. (2023, Feb 23). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/a-comparison-of-the-federalist-argument-no-10-and-the-tyranny-of-the-majority/
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