The Federalist Papers

1
The Federalist Papers

• After the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the
  Constitution was submitted to the states for
  ratification.
• The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 essays
  arguing in favor of ratification, written in the
  form of letters to the editor of newspapers in
  New York.

2
The Federalist Papers

• Why ratification is desirable
• Why the proposed Constitutional system of
  government is desirable
• Addresses concerns of the Anti-Federalists that
  the new national government would have too much
  power at the expense of the states and individual
  rights
• These concerns led to the addition of the Bill of
  Rights

3
The Federalist Papers

• Authors
• Alexander Hamilton
• James Madison
• Also principal author of the Constitution
• Author of 10 and 51, generally considered the
  most significant of the Papers
• John Jay

4
Federalist 10

• -- pp. 683-685 in Welch text
• Madison argues that the new Constitutional system
  of government will provide a solution to the
  problem of faction.
• Contemporary examples of factions
• - Political parties
• - Interest groups
• - Economic classes

5
Federalist 10

• By a faction I understand a number of citizens,
  whether amounting to a majority or minority of
  the whole, who are united and actuated by some
  common impulse of passion, or of interest,
  adverse to the rights of other citizens, or the
  permanent and aggregate interests of the
  community.
• - p. 683 in Welch

6
Federalist 10

• Private interests (whats good for one group, at
  the expense of society)
• vs.
• Public interest (whats good for the whole of
  society)

7
Curing the mischiefs of faction

• Two possible methods
• Remove the cause
• Control the effects

8
Curing the mischiefs of faction

• Two possible methods
• Remove the cause
• Destroy liberty
• Give every citizen the same opinions, passions
  and interests.

9
Curing the mischiefs of faction

• Two possible methods
• Remove the cause
• Destroy liberty
• remedyworse than the disease

10
Why Not Destroy Liberty?

• Liberty is necessary to a society in which
  factions can form, and taking away liberty would
  remove the cause of faction, but this would
  destroy the basis of society itself.

11
Removing the Causes of Faction

• Give every citizen the same opinions, passions
  and interests.
• as impracticable as the first destroying
  liberty would be unwise.

12
Why is that impracticable?

• As long as the reason of man continues fallible,
  and he is at liberty to exercise it, different
  opinions will be formed, based on different
  peoples views and interests.
• People who are free to think and reason for
  themselves (but dont know everything) will
  inevitably develop different interests and
  opinions.

13
Why is that impracticable?

• The diversity in the faculties of men, from
  which the rights of property originate
• The protection of these faculties (peoples
  rights) is the first object of government.

14
Formation of Different Interests

• People have different talents and abilities,
  which leads to the acquisition of different types
  and amounts of property.
• Differences in types and amounts of property
  produce different economic interests.
• The unequal distribution of property is the
  primary cause of factions.

15
Unequal Distribution of Property

• Those who own it and those who dont
• Creditors and debtors
• Landowners, manufacturers, merchants, bankers,
  each have different types of property and
  therefore different economic interests.
• Regulating these interests is the principal task
  of modern legislation.
• p. 684 in Welch text

16
Curing the mischiefs of faction

• Two possible methods
• Remove the cause
• Impossible in a free society.
• Control the effects
• The only solution to the problem of factions.

17
Controlling Effects of Factions

• Republican principle
• A faction which isnt a majority may simply be
  outvoted.
• What if the faction is part of a majority?
• It may have the power to sacrifice to its ruling
  passion of interest both the public good and the
  rights of other citizens.

18
Tyranny of the Majority

• (Not a direct quote from Federalist 10)
• A majority acting to violate the legitimate
  rights of the minority (a smaller group) within
  society.
• Madison says that solving this problem is the
  great object to which our inquiries are directed.

19
Preventing Tyranny of the Majority

• Prevent the majority from forming the same
  passion or interestat the same time, or the
  majority must be rendered unable to concert and
  carry into effect schemes of oppression.
• Madison People cant be trusted to prevent this
  from happening if the impulse and the
  opportunity coincide.

20
Shortcomings of Democracy

• A pure democracy can admit of no cure for the
  mischiefs of faction. A common interest can
  quickly and easily form, the system of government
  allows it to spread, and there is no check on it.
• The majority can easily sacrifice the interests
  of the outnumbered or unpopular.

21
Government by Republic

• Madison Pure democracy is inherently unstable
  and therefore inappropriate for the United
  States.
• A republic, by which I mean a government in
  which the scheme of representation takes place,
  is the answer.

22
Government by Republic

• A small number of citizens are elected by the
  larger population, and are granted the authority
  to make governmental decisions.
• Madison A republic can be used as a system of
  government for a larger territory than a
  democracy.

23
Government by Republic

• The chosen body of citizens who administer the
  government will be wise enough to discern the
  true interest of their country, and will be
  patriotic and just fair enough to refuse to
  sacrifice the national interest to the interests
  of a faction.

24
Government by Republic

• it may well happen that the public voice,
  pronounced by the representatives of the people,
  will be more consonant to the public good than if
  pronounced by the people themselves. (p. 685 in
  Welch text)
• Madison The elected representatives will serve
  the society and the interests of the people
  better than the people would themselves (or
  corrupt politicians could make the situation
  worse, but he argues that this is less likely in
  a larger republican society).

25
Size of Group of Representatives

• Must be large enough to prevent a few
  conspirators from dominating it.
• Must be small enough to prevent the confusion of
  a multitude.
• In a larger society, there will be a larger
  number of qualified candidates, making it more
  likely that the best people will be chosen.

26
Size of Constituency

• (Constituency the group of people represented by
  an elected official)
• A larger number of citizens will choose each
  representative in a larger republic
• Less likely that unfit or unworthy candidates
  will succeed at being elected than in a smaller
  society.
• Constituency must neither be so large that the
  representative is unfamiliar with its needs, nor
  so small that he is unduly attached to
  parochial concerns and factions.

27
Division of Power

• Great and aggregate interests dealt with by
  national government, local needs by state
  governments.
• Size of Republic
• A republic may serve a larger population and
  territory than a democracy, which also addresses
  the problems of faction.

28
Size of Republic

• A smaller society will have fewer distinct
  parties and interests, and therefore its more
  likely for a majority to form an oppressive
  faction.
• A larger republic will have more different
  parties and interests, and therefore its more
  difficult to form a majority with a common
  motive to invade the rights of other citizens.

29
Size of Republic

• A larger republic will also be more likely to
  have representatives with enlightened views and
  virtuous sentiments, who are less likely to form
  or join factions, and a wider variety of
  interests which will be less likely to join
  together to oppress others.

30
Division of Power

• Division of power between national and state
  governments also serves to diminish possibility
  of national dominance. A faction is unlikely to
  dominate the national political system even if it
  comes to power in one state.
• Republican principle provides solution for the
  problem of faction which is inherent in a free
  society.

31
Federalist 51

• Madison addresses the concerns of those who
  argued that the new Constitution would give the
  national government too much power.
• Separation of powers
• Checks and balances
• The several constituent parts of the government
  maybe the means of keeping each other in their
  proper places.
• p. 686 in Welch text

32
Separation of Powers

• Separate and distinct exercise of the different
  powers of government is essential to the
  preservation of liberty.
• Each department should have a will of its own,
  and should be so constituted that the members of
  each should have as little agency as possible in
  the appointment of the members of the others.

33
Separation of Powers

• Members of the different branches should not
  depend on each other for appointment or approval
  except where necessary
• Ideally, all are chosen from the people
  independently of each other, but this isnt
  possible in practice.

34
Separation of Powers

• The judiciary should be chosen by a means which
  assures that the best qualified people are
  selected (appointment by President, confirmation
  by Senate)
• Permanent tenure (lifetime appointment) of
  judges makes them independent of their political
  benefactors once they assume office

35
Separation of Powers

• Salaries of executive and judicial branch should
  be independent of legislative control.
• Constitution prohibits altering the Presidents
  salary during his term of office, or reducing a
  judges salary during his term. Why is this
  important?

36
Separation of Powers

• Salaries of executive and judicial branch should
  be independent of legislative control.
• Constitution prohibits altering the Presidents
  salary during his term of office, or reducing a
  judges salary during his term. Why is this
  important?
• Congress cant reduce someones salary as a
  political weapon.

37
Checks and Balances

• ...the great security against a gradual
  concentration of the several powers in the same
  department consists in giving to those who
  administer each department the necessary
  constitutional means and personal motives to
  resist encroachment.

38
Checks and Balances

• Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.
  The interests of the man must be connected with
  the constitutional rights of the place.
• An ambitious, power-seeking leader from one
  branch of government will be prevented from
  abusing his power by an ambitious, power-seeking
  leader from another branch. They will counteract
  each other and neither one becomes too powerful.

39
Checks and Balances

• It may be a reflection on human nature that such
  devices should be necessary to control the abuses
  of government. But what is government itself but
  the greatest of all reflections on human nature?

40
Checks and Balances

• If men were angels, no government would be
  necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither
  external nor internal controls on government
  would be necessary.
• Why not?

41
Checks and Balances

• If men were angels, no government would be
  necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither
  external nor internal controls on government
  would be necessary.
• Why not?
• If men were angels, we could live in the state of
  nature without government. If angels ran the
  government, they wouldnt abuse their power.

42
Checks and Balances

• If men were angels, no government would be
  necessary
• But?
• And therefore?

43
Checks and Balances

• If men were angels, no government would be
  necessary
• Butmen are not angels.
• And therefore?

44
Checks and Balances

• If men were angels, no government would be
  necessary
• Butmen are not angels.
• And thereforegovernment is necessary.

45
Checks and Balances

• If men were angels, no government would be
  necessary
• Butmen are not angels.
• And thereforegovernment is necessary.
• A government of, by and for human beings will
  reflect human nature, and it must be able to
  address the problems caused by human nature.

46
Checks and Balances

• In framing a government which is to be
  administered by men over men, the great
  difficulty lies in this you must first enable
  the government to control the governed, and then
  in the next place oblige it to control itself.
• The government must have enough power to carry
  out its functions, but not enough unchecked power
  to violate its authority.
• Accountability to the people is a partial, but
  not complete, solution to this problem.

47
Separation of Powers

• Power to make laws (legislative power) is the
  most important and most significant power of
  government.
• Legislative branch will necessarily be the
  predominant branch.
• Bicameralism Legislative power is divided
  between House and Senate, which have different
  modes of election and different principles of
  action.
• Prevents abuse of legislative power.

48
Bicameralism

• House elected by people for two-year terms
• Designed to be directly accountable and
  responsive to the people
• Senate elected by legislatures (now the people)
  for six-year terms
• Designed to be less accountable and responsive,
  take longer-term view of the national interests
• That which is popular may not be whats right

49
Bicameralism

• Two branches should be as little connected with
  each other as the nature of their common
  functions and their common dependence on the
  society will admit.
• House and Senate must pass a bill in identical
  form to send it to the President to become law,
  but they consider legislation independently of
  each other, and their rules and procedures are
  structured differently to allow different
  interests to be heard.

50
Bicameralism

• The Connecticut Compromise (House Senate) was a
  political agreement between large and small
  states, but it also addressed the concerns of
  those who felt the national government would be
  too powerful (a recurring theme!)

51
Presidency

• Veto negative on the legislature
• Not an absolute veto, can be overridden
• Madison argues that absolute veto could be either
  used too sparingly or abused
• Constitutional mechanism (2/3 of each house
  required to override) provides proper amount of
  executive restraint on legislative branch.

52
Federalism

• Division of power between national government and
  state governments
• Serves an additional check and balance on both
• National and state governments will check each
  other as different branches of same government do
• In the compound republic of America, the power
  surrendered by the people is first divided
  between two distinct governments, and then the
  portion allotted to each subdivided among
  distinct and separate departments. Hence a double
  security arises to the rights of the people. The
  different governments will control each other, at
  the same time that each will be controlled by
  itself.
• p. 687 in Welch text

53
More on Preventing Tyranny

• Madison doesnt use the word faction here, but
  he refers to the same thing
• Different interests necessarily exist in
  different classes of citizens. If a majority be
  united by a common interest, the rights of the
  minority will be insecure.

54
Protecting the Rights of the Minority

• ...create a will in the community independent
  of the majority that is, of the society
  itself.
• This is the function that a monarch serves, but
  this power may be abused
• Federal republic includes so many separate
  descriptions of citizens as will render an unjust
  combination of a majority of the whole very
  improbable, if not impracticable.
• Madison compares this to the variety of religious
  sects in the U.S. no one has the numbers to
  persecute the others

55
Federal System and Republican Government

• Easier for factions to form in smaller societies
  such as states power of national government is
  intended to prevent this.
• Justice is the end goal of government. It is
  the end of civil society.
• A society in which the majority may freely
  tyrannize the minority is as full of anarchy as
  the state of nature.

56
Federal System and Republican Government

• Individuals choose to form societies and
  governments to protect their rights from invasion
  in the state of nature
• Factions may choose to submit to the power of
  government within a civil society, for their own
  protection.

57
Federal System and Republican Government

• Extended republic (large society) makes it
  unlikely that a faction can spread beyond one
  state coalitions are unlikely to form on any
  other principles than those of justice and the
  general good.
• No need for monarchy to fulfill the independent
  will of the society

58
Federal System and Republican Government

• A larger country within practicable limits is
  better capable of self-government than a smaller
  one.
• Federal principle allows for the expansion of a
  republic over a considerably larger territory.

59
Congress

• Senate
• Two Senators per state
• 2 x 50 100
• House of Representatives
• At least one Representative per state
• Based on population
• Since 1913, there have been 435
  Representatives

60
The House also includes

• Delegates
• District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, US
  Virgin Islands
• Resident Commissioner
• Puerto Rico (serves a four-year term)
• These members may introduce legislation, serve
  and vote on committees, but not vote on final
  passage of legislation

61
House based on population

• US Census conducted every ten years to determine
  each states population and the number of
  Representatives to which its entitled.
• More people are born in the US than die
• More people immigrate to the US than emigrate out
  of the US
• US population is growing overall

62
House based on population

• Very few states are actually losing population
  (Louisiana after Katrina)
• Some areas are growing faster than others
• South and West growing faster than North and East
• States with significant population increases are
  entitled to additional representatives

63
2000 Reapportionment

• Arizona 2
• Florida 2
• Georgia 2
• Texas 2
• California 1
• Colorado 1
• North Carolina 1
• Nevada 1

64
2000 Reapportionment
Arizona 2 New York - 2 Florida
2 Pennsylvania - 2 Georgia 2
Connecticut - 1
Texas 2 Illinois -
1 California 1 Indiana -
1 Colorado 1 Michigan - 1 North
Carolina 1 Mississippi - 1 Nevada 1
Ohio - 1
Oklahoma - 1
Wisconsin - 1
65
Reapportionment

• Moving House seats among states to account for
  changes in population
• Redistricting
• Redrawing district lines within the state so that
  each district contains an almost exactly equal
  number of people (population shifts within the
  state even if the number of districts doesnt
  change)

66
                                                
                                               
                                                  
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67
How the lines are drawn determines who wins.

• A district with a large number of Republican
  voters will probably elect a Republican
  representative.
• A district with most of its people in Greenville
  will probably elect a representative from
  Greenville.
• A district with a majority of African-American
  voters will probably elect an African-American
  representative.

68
Gerrymandering

• A specific form of redistricting.
• Drawing district lines to benefit a particular
  candidate, party, geographic area or racial
  group.
• The Voting Rights Act of 1982 required that
  district lines be drawn to maximize the
  opportunity for African-Americans (and other
  groups) to elect representatives of their choice.

69
Majority-Minority District

• A district with a population majority of a
  particular racial minority group.
• The 6th District of SC is 56.7 black.
• It was designed in 1992 to elect an
  African-American Member of Congress, and did so
  (the first one from South Carolina since 1897).
• Another example is the 12th District of NC (see
  p. 243 in the Welch text)

70
Majority-Minority District

• Majority-minority districting significantly
  increased the number of African-Americans and
  Hispanics in Congress in the 1990s.
• But the Supreme Court ruled in Shaw v. Reno
  (1993) and other cases that it may be a violation
  of the 14th Amendments Equal Protection Clause
  (does it discriminate against white voters?)

71
Gerrymandering

• Generally permissible to elect a particular party
  or candidate, or to favor someone from a
  particular region.
• Generally not permissible to elect a member of a
  particular racial group.

72
Members of Congress

• Incumbents (current officeholders) who run for
  re-election are overwhelmingly likely to be
  re-elected.
• Usually 95 of Representatives
• Usually 70 of Senators
• Most turnover in Congress comes through open
  seats (retirement, death)

73
Incumbency Advantage

• Name Recognition
• More people have usually heard the name of
  their Representative or Senator than the name of
  their opponent.
• David Mayhew, Congress The Electoral Connection
  (1974)
• Members of Congress are primarily motivated by a
  desire to be re-elected, and their activities in
  office are all designed with this goal in mind.

74
Mayhew, Congress The Electoral Connection

• Advertising Building favorable name
  recognition among constituents.
• Not necessarily literally buying an ad.
• Congratulatory letters to high school graduates.
• Franking newsletters.
• Credit claiming Taking credit for having the
  government do something desirable.
• Straightening out someones problem with a
  government agency.
• Position taking Announcing your position on an
  issue (usually a popular one)
• - Designed to boost chances of re-election.

75
Congressional Activity

• Constituency Service
• Casework Intervening with government agencies on
  behalf of individuals or companies you represent,
  e.g., helping a veteran with a claim at the
  Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Morris Fiorina, Congress Keystone of the
  Washington Establishment (1977)
• Argues that Members of Congress deliberately
  create complicated Federal programs so that their
  constituents will need their help to navigate
  them, thus allowing the incumbent to take credit
  for solving the problem.

76
Congressional Activity

• Pork barreling Federal funding for projects in
  the area you represent
• Earmarks A requirement written into a spending
  bill that a specific amount of funding be spent
  on a specific project.
• 11,000 earmarks account for roughly 17 Billion
  in federal spending in 2008 (down from previous
  years).
• Log rolling Members of Congress agree to vote
  for each others projects. Good way to get
  funding for something you wantbut extremely
  expensive.

77
Franking

• Members of Congress are entitled to send
  constituents material on official government
  business at no charge (free postage).
• Official government business can be very
  generously interpreted.
• Members of Congress frequently write newsletters
  which cant be used for campaign purposes, but
  which can be used to put the incumbent in a
  favorable light.
• Now less of an advantage (and less common)
  because of e-mail.

78
Incumbency Advantage Fundraising

• Average raised in 2006 U.S. House elections
• Republican incumbent 1,444,426
• Democratic incumbent 1,067,020
• Democratic open seat 629,145
• Republican open seat 596,550
• Democratic challenger 354,166
• Republican challenger 233,853
• Source opensecrets.org.

79
Incumbency Advantage Fundraising

• Political Action Committees (PACs) contribute far
  more to incumbents than to challengers.
• Are they buying influence, or supporting
  candidates they agree with?
• The argument can be made either way.
• Funds are primarily used to buy TV advertising
  time, which adds even more to the incumbents
  name recognition advantage.

80
Organization of Congress

• Majority party the one with the most members
• Minority party/parties the ones with fewer
  members
• 107th Congress Democrats are the majority party
  in both House and Senate
• Republicans were majority party in House
  1995-2007, Senate 2003-2007

81
Organization of Congress

• A Congress is the two-year meeting of Congress
  between elections.
• First Congress 1789-1791
• 110th Congress 2007-2009

82
Congressional Committees

• Legislative workload is broken down according to
  issue areas.
• More senior members usually have first choice of
  committee seats.
• Each party in each house has a committee which
  makes committee assignments (committee on
  committees).

83
Congressional Committees

• Almost all committees have more members of the
  majority party than of the minority party.
• Subcommittees a portion of the membership of the
  full committee, dealing with a portion of its
  issue workload.

84
Congressional Committees

• Committee and subcommittee chairs are always
  members of the majority party.
• Ranking Minority Member The member of the
  minority party who would be chair if the majority
  changed.
• Most Representatives serve on two or three
  committees.
• Most Senators serve on four or five.

85
Committee Choices

• Needs of Constituency
• Personal Interests or Background
• Institutional Power
• National Interest
• Fundraising Potential
• (based on the work of Richard Fenno)

86
Next Week

• Welch, Ch. 10 (Congress)
• How A Bill Becomes a Law
• The 50-Minute Extended Dance Mix Version of Im
  Just a Bill, Sitting Here on Capitol Hill
• Research questions returned with comments and
  suggestions