STUDY QUESTIONS ON FEDERALIST # 10
1. In your own words, what is faction? Look it up in a dictionary.
What does James Madison, the author, think it is?
What might be some contemporary examples?
According to Madison, why are factions a problem?
2. What is Madisons purpose in writing this essay?
3. What solutions does Madison first propose to the problem of faction?
Which are realistic? Which are not realistic?
4. What are the most common sources of faction?
5. What two forms of government does Madison propose later in the article as possible solutions
to the problem of faction?
How do these two forms of government differ?
What does Madison think of democracy? Why will it not solve the problem of faction?
6. What form of government does Madison think will solve the problems connected with the
existence of factions? WHY? WHY?
What makes representative government attractive to Madison?
Why is a large republic superior to a smaller one? I.e., how does a large republic mitigate
(lessen) the problem of faction?
Questions of human nature:
1. What is Publius view of human nature (earlier in the article)?
2. What is the appropriate form and role of government, given human nature?
