Federalist No. 10 (1787) is James Madison's essay on the danger that factions — groups united by a common interest adverse to the rights of others or to the common good — pose to popular government. Madison argues that the causes of faction cannot be removed without destroying liberty itself, so a well-constructed government must instead control its effects. His remedy is the large commercial republic: by extending the sphere over a great many diverse interests, and by filtering popular will through elected representatives, an extensive union makes it far harder for any single faction to form a tyrannical majority.
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