Search results
The Federalist Party: Creating a New Government. By Adam E. Zielinski. Of all the things the Federalist Party can be labeled among its enemies of the era, no one could undermine the very nature of its inception. The concept of American republicanism was at the forefront of its creation in 1787; what its members fought for tooth and nail would ...
Aug 8, 2019 · The Federalists vs. the Anti-Federalists. August 08, 2019. In early August 1787, the Constitutional Convention’s Committee of Detail had just presented its preliminary draft of the Constitution to the rest of the delegates, and the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists were beginning to parse some of the biggest foundational debates over what ...
The Federalist Party had many successes throughout the late 1700s in the Legislative Branch. In the Executive Branch, the second President of the United States, John Adams, was a member of the Federalist Party and was to be the only Federalist president in US history. Once the early 1800s arrived, the Federalists began to lose support among the ...
- Overview
- Key documents to know
- Important takeaways
- Review questions
When creating the Constitution, one of the major questions facing the Framers was how to create a strong central government with the power to rule over its citizens without infringing upon citizens’ individual liberties. Foundational documents like the US Constitution, Federalist No. 10, and Brutus No. 1 illustrate the debate over this balance.
Federalist No. 10 — An essay written by James Madison, in which he argued that a strong representative government would be able to control the effects of factions.
Brutus No. 1 — An Anti-Federalist essay which argued against a strong central government based on the belief that it would not be able to meet the needs of all US citizens.
Participatory democracy in action: Participatory democracy (sometimes called direct democracy) is the idea that everyone should be, and can be, involved in politics. It emphasizes broad participation in politics and encourages ordinary people —not just a small subset of the population— to be responsible for political decisions.
An example of participatory democracy in the United States today is the use of referenda in some states. Referenda allow citizens to have a direct vote on a particular law. A referendum is an example of participatory democracy because the citizens themselves (not their government representatives) are the ones who decide whether to enact that law.
Pluralist democracy in action: Pluralist democracy is the idea that policymaking is open to lots of groups who have different interests. Each of these groups has the potential to influence policymaking, but no one group dominates all political decisions.
An example of pluralist democracy in the United States today is the participation of interest groups like the National Rifle Association (NRA) and Global Green USA. Both of these groups raise funds for candidates, promote candidates, and strive to influence current members of Congress on political decisions. Interest groups are an example of pluralist democracy because citizens join groups to influence policymakers, rather than having direct access to political decisions.
Elite democracy in action: An elite democracy is one in which a small subset of citizens makes political decisions. Those who make policy are usually wealthier and more educated than the average citizen. In an elite democracy, those who are in power are highly qualified to make political decisions.
An example of elite democracy today is the Electoral College. The Electoral College is used in presidential elections and determines the outcome of most elections. Under this system, a candidate might win the popular vote in an election (meaning more citizens voted to elect them than their opponent), but lose the electoral vote, and thus the presidency. The Electoral College is intended to provide a check on voters and act as a safeguard in case the voters make an unwise decision.
Which model of democracy does Federalist No. 10 describe? How do you know?
Which model of democracy does Brutus No. 1 describe? How do you know?
Based on what you've learned, construct an argument for which type of democracy you think creates the most stable form of government that is run by the people.
[Notes and attributions]
Aug 10, 2022 · The debate on Federalists and Anti-Federalists’ views of representation is summarized as follows: the Federalists wanted representatives to be virtuous versions of the people––impartial arbiters, if you will. Famously, in Federalist No. 10, Madison argues that representation is the “first difference” between a democracy and a republic.
Modern political parties consist of three components identified by political scientist V. O. Key: the party in the electorate (the voters); the party organization (which helps to coordinate everything the party does in its quest for office); and the party in office (the office holders).
The Republican Party and the Democratic Party are the major parties that have monopolized American politics since the early 1850s (Chambers & Burnham, 1975). A major party runs candidates for local, state, and federal offices in a majority of states and holds one of the two largest blocs of seats in the US Congress (Rovenstone, Behr, & Lazarus ...
