The American Idea

A Sober View of Human Nature: Federalist 10 and Factions

July 15, 2026·41 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

In Federalist 10, James Madison identified what he saw as one of the greatest dangers to popular government: factions. How did he define and understand them? Does his definition and his argument still stand up today? How can, by understanding the view on this issue at the Founding, better understand our current politics?Read Federalist 10: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/federalist-no-10-3/Read Madison’s “Consolidation”: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/consolidation/Read Madison’s “A Candid State of Parties”: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/a-candid-state-of-parties-2/Read Joe’s article on political parties: https://www.heritage.org/political-process/report/the-rise-and-fall-political-parties-americaFind American Covenant on Amazon: https://a.co/d/00voBuXVHost: Jeff SikkengaExecutive Producer: Jeremy GyptonSubscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanideaHomepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/Thank you for being part of The American Idea community.​​​Click to learn about how we're planning for America's 250th birthday!​ https://www.ashbrookfreedom250.org/Follow on Twitter https://x.com/amideapodcastFollow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ashbrookcenter/

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