First+Quarter

Federalist Papers #10 Notes/Summary 9/15/11

Madison appears to be now going in support of a "Bill of Rights" concept. He was originally a Federalist and wanted a strong central government but is now listening to the concerns of the Anti-Federalists who favored people's/states' rights over a strong central government. Maybe he was doing this for political reasons, to appeal to more voters if he were to run for Congress and/or President in the future or maybe he actually changed his mind or became agreeable to try to get more ratification votes for his Constitution. Whatever the reason(s) Madison also explained the importance of a republican democracy rather than a pure democracy and how a pure democracy would be virtually impossible for the kind of country the US wanted to be because everything would have to be voted on, literally everything. So it was explained to be better to elect officials who in your opinion are the best, most intelligent and hard working individuals who will represent your ideas over their own (obviously that's not always the case today, but that's a different story). Madison definitely seemed to be presenting both sides of his different arguments, giving strong evidence this was most likely for his own political devices.