 | DrEntropy (40)
03/06/2006 | Madison deserves a place among the great political philosphers, but I wouldn't rank him up there with Hume or Aristotle. Several of the other founders had just as imporant or greater a role in establishing the fledgling US government on a secure basis, most notably Alexander Hamilton.
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 | LanceRoxas (41)
12/18/2004 |  James Madison's essays as part of the Federalist Papers are simply pure genius. Federalist #10 in particular embarks on a concept wholly different than ever theorized. Madison inverts conventional wisdom regarding republicanism- particularly Montesquieu's assertion that to be successful republican government could only be small, isolated and quite centralized. Madison contended that republican government needed to be the opposite to succeed- by devolving factionalism and diluting power those who sought to utilize their power would be nullified by others. He envisioned a moral citizenry participating in a discussion for the common good. It is evident that the teachings of Aristotle played heavily into these concepts. That government exists to promote the public good. It is essential that one understand that Madison was not arguing for blind natural rights to divide power and goods but rather defending the creation of a federal republic for the promotion of the good of all its citizens predicated upon an existing natural law. Madison, the Father Of The Constitution and author of the religious liberty acts was nothing short of a brilliant theorist.
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