In Federalist 10 James Madison argues, a government that doesn’t do anything is a safe government. He claims there will always be people united by common interests and adverse to the rights of others, but a slow moving government would make it increasingly difficult to carry out schemes of oppression–that by dividing up the population, “expanding the sphere” of interests and diversifying the range of opinions it would be more difficult for bad actors to exert influence.
However, as many of you noted in class today, that does not always seem to be the case.
Please watch the videos listed below and ask yourself: What has changed over the last 240 years? Or was Madison just plain wrong? Are these examples exceptions? Or have people always been able to carry out schemes of oppression? As a reminder, a scheme of oppression is created by anyone who is opposed to the liberty of others. It is when a group of people is trying to infringe on other people’s ability to pursue their conception of a good life.
This is a reflection assignment, so there are no wrong answers. Just give yourself time to really think about Madison’s theory and how schemes of oppression still manage to surface.
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