"When a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens. To secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and the form of popular government, is then the great object to which our inquiries are directed. "
1) Majority Rule, Minority Rights: When power lies in the hands of the majority, a large faction the power to hurt smaller factions. The U.S. government maintains minority rights even though majority rules. Many people living in the colonies wanted to escape religious persecution, so including the idea of minority rights provides the security of being able to express interests and beliefs without unfair violations of rights. Today, this idea is important because minority factions will always exist and need the assurance of protection that allows freedom of expression.
"Hence, the number of representatives in the two cases not being in proportion to that of the two constituents, and being proportionally greater in the small republic, it follows that, if the proportion of fit characters be not less in the large than in the small republic, the former will present a greater option, and consequently a greater probability of a fit choice."
2) Compromise: Too few representatives can conspire or be manipulated, while too many representatives can be confusing and chaotic. In order to settle the debate of whether Congress should consist of two representatives from every state or of a number of representatives relative to the population, the “Great Compromise” for two legislative houses was made. This works because both the Senate and House of Representatives have enough members so that there are multiple factions, and it is difficult to have members conspire due to the quantity of different voices and opinions in Congress.
"In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions."
3) Interdependence: Since men are flawed, there should be checks and balances so that they can catch each others’ mistakes. There are checks and balances of power between the legislative, executive, and judicial branch in the government. More importantly, there is a check on the government from the people governed. The government’s purpose is to serve the people and the U.S. republic works people feel like they have influence over the government and can express their concerns when needed.
"In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself."
4) Security: In essence, the people want to be able to live their own lives without being endangered. When the Constitution was written, many people were suspicious that a centralized government would become a tyranny. Having separate state and federal governments provides another aspect of interdependence, and thus, another layer of security. Both state and federal governments can watch each other for overstepping boundaries and violating the peoples' rights.
It is interesting how these ideas seem to flow with each other on the topic of power among the people and the government. The fact of minority rights is important because it basically allows freedom to literally, groups of minority that have different views and beliefs compared to the views and beliefs of a majority society. The example of colonists seeking religious freedom is a great example because the minority groups rights' were not violated. This creates equal power among society, such as there is equal power in the concept of interdependence where checks and balances give powers to all three branches of government to give each branch a certain power over the other. The next aspect of interdependence is great in still giving freedom to the people because now the state and federal government have power over each other, and can keep in check with one another so no rights are violated of the people. All of these ideas make the government work.
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