2016: James
Madison and the Margins
In September 1787 while waiting for the arrival of others, James
Madison began drafting a blueprint which would eventually be known as the
Virginia Plan. The Virginia Plan
proposed a bicameral legislative branch and set the stage for creating the idea
of representation according to population.
Madison was no stranger to these questions haven already given long
study to historical forms of government, much of it in solitude at his home in
Montpelier, VA.
While not a behavioral
scientist, James Madison knew his man; or better said he knew the tendencies of
men and women by studying the various forms of governance and the corresponding
behaviors. His review of past governance
failures challenged him to devise and propose a new system which would promote
the best outcomes while minimizing the worst outcomes. His ability to arrive at his personal
conclusions and thereafter propose and have them accepted are central elements
to what makes America great and a model for others.
Madison devised a system
of interlocking government that he thought could serve the citizens of our
country well assuming that those elected to office were NOT wise and good men,
or the best of America. This concept is
expressed best when considering the separation of power into three branches of
government. While it is an American
ritual to complain about the cumbersome nature of the “People’s Business” in
Washington, DC, it is also important to know this feature is a safeguard of
ours from an oppressive overbearing government.
Admittedly, it would be a
welcome day of freshness if we could see better citizenship practiced and
modeled for us rather than our elected leaders focused on “inflamed mutual
animosity and rendered more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to
co-operate for their common good."
A
representative republic, Madison thought, was different from a direct democracy
because its government is placed in the hands of delegates, and, as a result of
this, it can be extended over a larger geographic area and gave argument in
favor of a large republic against a small republic for the choice of "fit
characters" to represent the public's voice.
In a large republic, where
the number of voters and candidates is greater, the probability to elect
competent representatives is broader. The voters have a wider option. In a
small republic, it would also be easier for the candidates to fool the voters
but more difficult in a large one. Madison suggests that a representative
republic form of government is more effective against factions than a direct
democracy.
Men who are members of
particular factions, or who have prejudices or evil motives might manage, by
intrigue or corruption, to win elections and then betray the interests of the
people. Madison thought the possibility of this happening in a large country,
such as the United States, is greatly reduced. The likelihood that public
office will be held by qualified men is greater in large countries because
there will be more representatives chosen by a greater number of citizens. This
makes it more difficult for the candidates to deceive the people.
Representative government is needed in large countries, not to protect the
people from the tyranny of the few, but to guard against the rule of the mob.
Madison’s theoretical
argument for our resultant US Government representative republic could also be
used to define what we know as a Bell curve in the discipline of statistical
Analysis. Essentially it means that in
any given measured collection of people, things or events that occur there can
be expected a certain outcome. When all
outcomes are registered and the frequency of that outcome is charted it looks
like a bell; shape with a curved top by greater frequency recordings and moving
downwards towards the outer extremes of normal.
This is also known as being on the “margins” compared to the majority
who bunch together for thought, performance, attitude, behavior, etc.
While James Madison was a
gifted scholar, he didn’t carry a smartphone, own a computer, drive a car or
eat a pop tart. In fact, he was still
pretty amazed to get regular mail service.
While he understood the darker tendencies of human behavior in power he
could never have anticipated the magnitude, directness and speed of electronic
communication nor the resultant power of celebrity and immense wealth. While the US has been showing some affects of
these issues in past elections, the 2016 US election cycle has brought about a
unique, unprecedented circumstance which likely will become a watershed for
political, social and civic thought and conversation.
In 2016, Donald Trump
received the Republican nomination for the Presidency of the United
States. He used his celebrity to bully
about a dozen reasonably qualified persons during the primary election campaign
cycle and win the nomination.
This written work is not
about endorsing other candidates or parties;
it is about recognizing that in 2016 we have experienced the Nation’s
first failure of James Madison’s theory that a large representative republic
would likely weed out non-qualified candidates for important political office,
power and leadership. The author of this
work does not endorse and will not vote for such an unqualified candidate for
office.
I encourage you to
exercise your right to vote for the many candidates running for the various
federal, state and local offices in November 2016. Because I think the republican candidate for
president in 2016, Donald Trump, is such an extreme variance from those in the
pool of the “best minds available in American” and does not reflect our core
American behavior, I ask you to join me and not vote for Donald Trump.
