Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Banking
i know that the first bank in America was set up in 1791. Did Robert Moris have a helping hand in the system of a centralized bank b/c that was at first his proposal. In the Constitution, was a provisional bank set up in order to maintain and house the newly formed governments money. I think that it is a pretty interesting idea of creating and establishing a monetary policy with government backed security and money instead of commodity money, which is backed by gold and silver.
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James Madison and Federalist Paper Number 10
James Madison one of the most influential founding fathers wrote The Federalist No. 10 to addresses the problem of “factions” and more specifically how to deal with “factions”. The “factions” that Madison speaks of are modern day special interest that by definition are citizens with interests contrary to the rights of others or the interests of the whole community.
The “factions” could also be perceived as political parties which do not represent the population as a whole. Madison then states that popular sovereignty would be able to control minority factions and that it is the majority faction that the future government would have to deal with. Madison concludes that a large and strong Republic that would be better equipped to deal with the “factions”, rather than a small democracy like a state government. The reason that a large Republic would be better equipped to deal with majority faction is that a large Republic would have a large and diverse group of representatives elected from all the states in the union. Thus the view of a majority faction from one state may not be the majority view of the entire United States and their view would then not be apposed upon the rest of the union.
Towards the end of the document Madison alludes that the found fathers and the Constitution did not intended for American politics to be partisan and that the Constitution was designed to check “factions” and insure that the majority always ruled.
Madison’s ideal that a large Republic would be able to check “factions” and other minority groups is still put in to practice to day. The constant struggle for majority power is a constant issue especially in the Legislative branch. In 2006 the Democrats took control of the House and the Senate (counting independents on their party). Although the democrats only have control by a slim margin it is still a representation of the majority. This is where Madison’s ideal of a large Republic constraining the power of minority groups. If both parties block vote there would be no way a Republican from the minority party would be able to get legislation passed because of the fact that a republic can encompass larger areas and populations, thus the true majority will always rule.
The founding fathers set up the American system of government to have several intricate systems of checks and balances. The Federalist No 10. is no exception, it is a document that argues for a large republic so that the majority will always rule over the minority “factions”. The struggle for majority power is still fought over today, but thank to the Constitution a 1% margin in an election or by 2 chairs majority in the Senate the will always be a majority and the majority will always rule.
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