Blog #3- The Politics of the American Founding

“Different interests necessarily exist in different classes of citizens. If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure.”

Over the course of history, many political parties have drawn the attention of different classes in society based off of personal interests that people have seen in these political factions. In this instance, James Madison wanted to spread the need for the ratification of the new constitution in a federalist approach. Madison believed that the Articles of Confederation was weak because it was unable to control factions that spread their individual beliefs about the existence and work of the Articles of Confederation, which thus created the different interests amongst people and their lack of unification. Political factors are causing divisions amongst the citizens. The purpose of the Constitution was to amend the problems that the Articles of Confederations could not. James believed that great number of factions and diversity that would avoid tyranny, and also a large population would be difficult to have factions gain control. Hence, people would likely to a  mutual agreement that considers both majority and minority. However, It is nearly impossible for everyone to agree on one thing. There is no sense of greater good within the federalist papers because the “greater good” is not so much greater; in fact, it actually does not help the minority. Because of what majority rules “good” will always put the minority in discomfort.

I chose this quote because it can not only be applied to politics but life decisions in general. The phrase “majority rules” is emphasized when large groups need to come to a solid conclusion. For instance, during my senior year of high school in Physics, the teacher did a poll that gave us the options of either having the exam on the original date before the spring break or after. It was not a surprise that majority chose after break, however, the rest of us (minority) had other exams to prepare for after the break. So as most of the students were enjoying the break and working toward the physics exam, the rest of us were struggling to balance the studying time toward other finals. I completely agree with the what James Madison said about the minority being insecure because in my case, those who are unable to cram or retain information fast would have difficulty taking the exam and they did.