Influenced by Republicanism, but Not a True Republican

Dan Blazo

MC 271, Section 1

Stokes

23 March 2005

Influenced by Republicanism, but not a True Republican

The philosophy of a republican form of government was certainly not a creation of James Madison and the Federalists. The idea of such a government has been around since the beginning of political philosophy. While the definition has changed over the centuries, certain constants continue to define a strictly republican regime. The goals and priorities of a republic are distinct yet dissimilar from those of James Madison's philosophy. Generally, a republican government is defined as one which idealizes the public interests as the highest good and imposes a duty on each citizen to work toward the public interests before individual ones. Due to the influence of natural rights philosophers, Madison's ideas are not strictly republican despite the fact that he considers them to be so.

Not long before Madison, a French philosopher named Montesquieu wrote several works about classical republicanism. One major claim he stood by was the age-old idea that "political virtue means self-renunciation". In other words, the goal of politics is for individuals to devalue selfish interests and instead work to achieve the interests of the entire community. Montesquieu believed that a just government should ensure the interests of the public and pay little attention to the concerns of the individual. This type of virtue is similar to that of ancient philosophers Plato and Aristotle. While Madison strays from the goals of Montesquieu's government, he adopts many of his ideas involving the creation of a just government that protects the public.

Montesquieu's emphasis on the separation of government into three divisions is an idea that Madison adapted in the Constitution. In the "republican" government, checks and balances are necessary to keep the government working for the people instead of the reverse. The wisest of men are to represent the people's interests and understand these interests to be those of the community as a whole. Madison may have adopted the separation of powers idea from philosophers such as Montesquieu and Locke, but there are several more prerequisites required to compose a truly republican government.

While the Anti-Federalists were not classical republicans either, they did make some valid arguments as to why the beliefs of the Federalists were not consistently republican. A core belief of the Anti-Federalists was the ideal of a small community whose representatives were directly involved with the people. This strong sense of community was believed to unite the people in common interests and therefore renunciate individuality. In this setting, the government would continue to serve the people and uphold the republican virtues. Politicians would face great responsibility and obligation to serve because they were to represent their respective communities. Madison's union would deny the sovereignty of states and further remove the government from peoples' lives. Therefore, politicians would have fewer obligations to serve the people and the people would have less of a relationship with their government.

In Federalist 10, Madison explains the apparent advantages of integrating many small factions and their influences on government. As the argument goes, having many factions will reduce the probability of the formation of a majority faction that could oppress minorities. Madison explains this when he writes, "Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens" (Madison 10). Anti-Federalists believed that a smaller homogenous community could accomplish more and better serve the public good. Brutus explains this when he writes:

"In a republic, the manners, sentiments, and interests of the people should be similar. If this be not the case, there will be a constant clashing of opinions and the representatives of one part will be constantly striving against those of the other. This will retard the operation of government and prevent such conclusions as will promote the public good" (13)

The diversity of factions which Madison praises and encourages is anti-republican because it discourages an involved, familiar government which is the basis for civic virtue. A citizen will not feel the obligation to achieve the common goals of his republic if the republic itself contains all types of people with various interests. Anti-Federalists believed that increasing the size of the republic to the entire union would take away individual liberties and the right to govern oneself because the factions of other states have equal power in governing one's own state (in national government, which was to be far more powerful than state governments). Also, the Anti-Federalist Brutus claims that "people will not be likely to have confidence in their rulers" in such a large state where politicians are strangers to most of their electorate (Brutus 7).

A reoccurring theme in Madison's writings is the distrust of mankind. In Federalist 10, Madison claims that self love is "sown into the nature of man" and in 51 he concludes that the necessity for government comes from the simple fact that not all men are "angels". In other words, the duty of government is to protect its citizens from each other. This distrust in human nature is an idea that can be traced back to Machiavelli. In fact, Madison seems to be paying close attention to Machiavelli's passage in his work on republics which states, "Whoever desires to found a state and give it laws, must start with assuming that all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature, whenever they may find occasion for it" (Machiavelli 291). Machiavelli broke away from classical political philosophy with his bold claims about the faults of human nature. While he preferred republican governments, his alterations to classical republicanism end up creating a new type of government altogether.

Madison, like Montesquieu, despised despotism and sought to avoid it at high costs. In order to avoid such tyranny, Madison believed that a union of the states would make it very difficult for a person or faction to gain the power required for tyranny. By pulling government further away from the people and losing the sense of community, the interests of individuals become the first priority in the society. While it is foreseeable that the interests