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Federalist No. 39, titled "The conformity of the Plan to Republican Principles", is an essay by James Madison, the thirty-ninth of '' The Federalist Papers'', published on January 16, 1788. Madison defines a republican form of government, and he also considers whether the nation is federal or national: a confederacy, or consolidation of states. This essay is one of many to urge ratification of the
U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nationa ...
. James Madison, along with
Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
and John Jay, sent these essays to try to sway the remaining nine states to preserve the Federal form of government, with a National government interest.


Background

Madison, as written in Federalist No. 10, had decided why factions cannot be controlled by pure democracy: Madison then theorized the use of a republic, and the first form of a republic must be evaluated. The Roman Republic was a republic, but it was heavily monopolized at the top, almost aristocratic, in a sense, as it cared only about the rich. The poor were treated as outcasts, not as members of society, and were also so politically immature that could not even talk at public meetings. That was not viewed the same way in the Madisonian republic in which everyone is treated equally and has a say.


Summary

Madison defines what ''republic'' means and states three rules that must apply to be considered a republic: # What is the foundation of its establishment? Only the people of the nation and no one else would make the decision of who rules the government. # What are the sources of its power? The person who is chosen by the people should not break any rules or abuse their power. # Who has the authority to make future changes? When someone is chosen to rule the country, they should be in that position for only a certain amount of time unless the people of the nation feel that it is best to impeach them. This corresponds to the Madisonian republic, which means the system of government where the citizens of the state elect representatives to make decisions for them using three powerful branches: the executive, the judicial, and the legislative. From early in the Constitutional Convention, Madison held the position that the national government should be federal because if it were more extensive in relation to the states, that would increase the "probability of duration, happiness and good order". It was not initially clear how the new government would interact with the states, and Madison was in favor of a federal form, "a political system in which at least two territorial levels of government share sovereign constitutional authority over their respective division and joint share of law-making powers; differently put, neither the federal government nor the relevant federative entities may unilaterally alter one another's powers without a process of constitutional amendment in which both levels of government participate." Other alternatives included a confederacy as under the
Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 Colonies of the United States of America that served as its first frame of government. It was approved after much debate (between July 1776 and November 1777) by ...
or a more strictly national government.


References


External links


Text of The Federalist No. 39
congress.gov Congress.gov is the online database of United States Congress legislative information. Congress.gov is a joint project of the Library of Congress, the House, the Senate and the Government Publishing Office. Congress.gov was in beta in 2012, a ...
{{Federalist Papers 1788 in law 39 1788 essays 1788 in the United States