In Federalist #10, James Madison writes of “faction” in keeping with, if not exactly matching, the sense of social classes or groups in society that are connected through common interests by those in society, interests that will often conflict with the rights of others or the common interests of the whole community. Madison argues that the ultimate source of wealth, and private property, is the diversity of “faculties” or human abilities. More specifically, he argues that people have different talents and capacities – that these differences lead to natural inequalities in the right to obtain property. Thus, there is no mystery about why some people are wealthy and some people are poor. Madison is explicit, as his view has not often had resonance in the present day, that the primary function of government is to protect unequal faculties, and in turn unequal property. Different understandings of the function of government in our day are often larger constructs including social welfare and social equality.
With an understanding of what Madison means by faction and the ideas surrounding faculty and the role of government relative to property rights as a product of unequal faculties, it is not surprising that Federalist #10 does not advocate for direct democracy, but instead a republican model of government. Madison and the Federalists feared social experiment directly and were apprehensive about the dangers of majority factions that might trample on the rights and interests