James Madison and Factions

James Madison is very critical of factions, which he defines as "...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 interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community."He believed that we would allow all the factions to express themselves and to influence the workings of government by getting their members elected and/or appointed to offices. Minority groups would be protected because the factions would have to negotiate their differences. In this way, the republic would create a system of government in which the majority would rule but the ideas of the minority would have to be taken into consideration. However he does not believe factions are good, he thinks that the divide in groups of people will lead to a lack of compromise, thus getting nothing done.

My definition: A group of people with a common interest and a common goal

Questions:

1. Are there any positives of factions?
2. How will factions affect how leaders are elected?
3. How have factions evolved over time?
4. Do factions still exist today? What form have they taken?
5. What are the sizes of factions and how many are there?

Factions are still used today mostly to:  Among them are: to protect the rights of minority interests , to promote greater understanding, and to encourage compromise where compromise would be beneficial. However they do create a divide in our government which causes chaos when trying to get a bill passed or anything done.