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The Federalist term paper

1.  The authors of the Federalist Papers contributed to the development of the USA as an independent state. In fact, the Federalist Papers were precursors of the US Constitution which regulates the life of Americans today. In such a way, we still feel our connection with the epoch when the Federalist Papers were created. This is exactly what I would like to tell to the authors of the Federalist Papers. To put it more precisely, I would tell them that even hundreds of years ago, we remember them and their principles are still relevant, since the US Constitution still works little changes and not so many Amendments. This is probably the evidence of effectiveness of principles which the authors of the Federalist Papers were devoted to. I really appreciate the simplicity and wisdom of the Federalist Papers that makes them truly eternal since times are changing but the Federalist Papers are still relevant in a way. A the same time, I would remark that it is only in the USA they could create their Federalist Papers since it was the land of free people, while European countries still remain in the shadow of absolutism. This is why I would tell to the authors of the Federalist Papers that they actually showed Americans and the entire world that we are free, independent and democratic people.

2. Madison was extremely concerned with the problem of the protection of basic human rights of Americans and interests of community. He was one of the supporters of people sovereignty. But he understood that the development of the new state will inevitably confront American people in face of the problem of the growing pressure from the part of groups of people who will attempt to establish their control over the entire state or certain communities. He defines these groups as factions and he believes they are extremely destructive and people and communities should be protected from their destructive impact. In fact, factions were concerned only with their own interests, which could contradict to interests and needs of communities and the majority of people living within communities. In such a situation, Madison logically suggested to prevent factions from the power to influence communities and ordinary citizens and force them to accept decisions taken by factions in their interests but not the interests of the community.

Madison suggests quite unusual solution for that epoch. He argues that it is necessary to create a strong Republic which power could counterbalance the power of factions. In this respect, he stressed that the Republic should stand for people and communities, but not factions. At this point, Madison apparently attempted to develop the concept which now is called the concept of civil society since, according to the Federalist #10 the majority rules and communities should be able to define their social and economic life, while factions should be under the control of the Republic and they could not dictate their rules to the entire country or local communities.

3. The Federalist #51 is focused on the separation of power. This issue is probably the most important issue in the socio-political system of the USA. In all probability, Madison looked for optimal solutions of the problem of prevention of absolutism in the USA. He perfectly knew how political systems functioned in Europe and he understood that the lack of control over the political leaders of the country can lead the USA to the monarchy or some form of dictatorship. It proves beyond a doubt that without control, politicians tend to misuse their power and they attempt to gain some financial or political benefits from their leading position in the national politics.

In such a context, the introduction of the principle of separation of power was an effective solution of the problem of the lack of control over political leaders of the country. Remarkably, the principle of separation of power has persisted till present days and it is still relevant and it always was. Obviously, Madison understood the importance of separation of power. This is why he suggested separating executive, legislative and judicial power. In such a way, each branch of power was relatively independent, but, at the same time, under the control of other branches. For instance, the executive power had to execute laws and legal acts implemented by legislative power, the legislative power could issue laws but it could not execute them, while judicial power should enforce law.

4. In the Federalist #54, Madison defends the 3/5 clause. However, such a position of Madison seems to be quite illogical, since he was apparently concerned with democratic ideas and protection of human rights, while the 3/5 clause limited substantially, if not to say deprived of, rights of slaves. In fact, the 3/5 clause contributed to the underrepresentation of slaves and their interests in the US politics. On the other hand, taking the actual of slaves in America at the epoch, the Federalist # 54 had both positive and negative effects. On the one hand, the Federalist #54 really provided salves with a chance to get some representation in the US power. Obviously, this was a considerable progress in the protection of human rights in the USA at the epoch. On the other hand, the Federalist #54 put slaves into a disadvantageous position compared to the rest of American society, especially whites. In fact, the 3/5 clause made social status prior to his human rights.

5, Alexander Hamilton viewed the Presidential power as the main executive power in the independent USA. To put it more precisely, in the Federalist #70, he developed the concept of a strong Presidential power, which should fulfill functions of the executive power. In actuality, Hamilton was probably influenced by traditional European model of executive power, which was normally headed by the monarch, which held not only executive but all the power in the country. However, unlike a monarch, the President’s power should be limited to the executive branch only. At the same time, Hamilton argued that the executive power of the President should not be challenged. Otherwise, it would lead to undesirable competition in power and wreak havoc in American politics. Probably, he would be surprised with the current power of the US President because it is not as large as Hamilton hoped it would be.

6. The Supreme Court was also important for the future state and Hamilton viewed it as a head institution of the executive branch of power in the USA. Hamilton stood on the ground that the Supreme Court, being important, still could hardly resist to the political power. In other words, he was skeptical about the power of the Supreme Court to counterbalance the political power. However, he would be surprised with the actual power of the Supreme Court since, today, the Supreme Court is an extremely important institution.

7. The authors of the Federalist Papers were substantially influenced by historical events that occurred in the world before the creation of the Federalist Paper. In this respect, the revolution in England headed by Oliver Cromwell was probably a very significant event which influenced the authors of the Federalist Papers. In fact, Cromwell was the first man who challenged the power of English monarch and usurped the power, though he was not of the royal origin. In such a way, he showed that the royal power can be limited by laws or Constitution and this idea became the milestone of the Federalist Papers, which were created as the set legal norms regulating the life of the USA before the introduction of the Constitution.

8. The Federalist #10 deals with factions, which Hamilton believed to be destructive, is irrelevant to the actual role of factions. In fact, factions perform a very important functions in the society because they accelerate the development of communities since they consolidate elite of the community and use their power to help communities keep progressing and achieve prosperity. The majority of the community cannot always adequately understand what the community actually needs because ordinary people have no idea how the business and economy work. Hence, factions should take care of economy and business development since they are teams of professionals who can lead the community to success and prosperity.

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