.The fact that Madison includes the line “whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole” in his definition of factions is quite significant. Can the majority ever be wrong? Since most Americans believe that democracy should serve the interests of the majority (majority rules), how can a majority “faction” ever represent views inconsistent with the good of the whole? Critics of the Federalists Papers argue that Madison’s definition of factions is extremely anti-democratic in nature. Even though a faction’s viewpoints may be destructive to the institution of American government, the government’s main role is to represent the will of the people regardless of subsequent effects. However, certainly one can understand Madison’s concerns regarding “factions” as he does not desire to see the government which the Constitution created, a government which is based upon many of his ideas, suffer irreparable harm. Since the Federalists were not idealists and recognized the openness of representatives in government to corruption, the Federalists were strong supporters of a system of “checks and balances” to aid in minimizing this risk. “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controuls on government would be necessary,” writes Madison over the necessity of monitoring and regulating government agents. A system of “checks and balances” prevents any one group in government from usurping power from another. The primary purpose of this elaborate system is to safeguard the American public from the ill-intended actions of power-hungry representatives. “The people can never willfully betray their own interests: But they may possible be betrayed by the representatives of the people; and the danger will be evidently greater where the whole legislative trust is...
