The term “faction” in the #10 Federalist comes to mind with the concept of social and economic stratification that we have discussed. A faction, according to Madison, consists of a group of citizens unified by a common interest that is generally hostile to the people or the public interest. This is a direct correlation to the colonial America’s class distinctions, with the wealthy elite and disfranchised poor having competing interests. The Founding Fathers, and Madison in particular, feared that if political authority was granted to the majority—the common man, the working- and lower-class citizen—then they would use it to trample the rights of the rich minority. The Constitution was therefore drafted to restrain factions by limiting direct popular authority.

The root cause of wealth (private property), as argued by Federalist #10, is the natural distinction among people. Madison argues that the differences, which he calls “faculties”, are the innate capacity, aptitude, or talents that determine the capacity of a person to achieve and retain property. Under this understanding, certain people have faculties that enable them to accumulate wealth, and others do not have faculties and hence are poor. Such an explanation renders economic disparity an innate and necessary byproduct of human distinctions rather than a result of institutions or policy. However, such an understanding overlooks external factors such as inherited wealth, systemic barriers, and social privilege that also explain economic distinctions. While others could agree with Madison’s understanding, others could argue that wealth is not entirely a result of personal capacity but also of economic and social conditions that one cannot do anything about.


Madison sets out the first priority (“first object”) of the U.S. government as the protection of the right of property holders. Such a priority would come as a shock given that today government talk revolves around democracy, equality, and the public good as its raison d’être as opposed to protection of private property as its first priority. Yet in the historical context, it aligns with the interests of the Founding Fathers in the protection of the economic interests of the elite class. No wonder, therefore, that the Federalist #10 advocates a Republican (representative) system of government as opposed to a pure democracy. Madison was worried that a direct democracy would give the majority of the people (the working poor) the power to pass a bill of attainder that would redistribute wealth or harm property rights. In advocating a republic, Madison ensured that representatives elected to office—typically members of the elite class—would serve as a mediating force and have power over the masses. This is another way the Constitution was crafted to maintain the power of the rich to the detriment of the poor.