By Sarah Becker (c)2026

“Among the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction,” James Madison wrote November 23, 1787, “The friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for their character and fate, as when he contemplates their propensity to this dangerous vice.”

“Complaints are everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens, equally the friends of public and private faith, and of public and personal liberty, that our governments are too unstable, that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority,” Madison continued.

“However anxiously we may wish that these complaints had no foundation,” Madison concluded, “the evidence, of known facts will not permit us to deny that they are in some degree true. “It will be found, indeed, on a candid review of our situation, that some of the distresses under which we labor have been erroneously charged on the operation of our governments; but it will be found, at the same time, that other causes will not alone account for many of our heaviest misfortunes.”

“The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished,’ Madison added.

My question to you, the reader: in this, America’s 250th year, to what extent is the United States government factionalized? Why, for example, does Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson [R-LA, 2016–] request Congress recess rather than remain in place until the give and take of political compromise has been negotiated?

Compromise, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “an agreement or settlement of a dispute where each party gives up part of their demands to find a middle ground,”

“By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community,” Madison explained.

“There are two methods of removing the causes of faction, the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests,” Madison argued. “It could never be more truly said than of the first remedy, that it was worse than the disease.”

“Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires,” Madison penned.  “But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.”

“The second expedient is as impracticable as the first would be unwise,” Madison mused. “As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed. As long as the connection subsists between his reason and his self-love, his opinions and his passions will have a reciprocal influence on each other; and the former will be objects to which the latter will attach themselves.”

“The latent causes of faction are sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society,” Madison decided. “A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points, as well of speculation as of practice; an attachment to different leaders ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power; or to persons of other descriptions whose fortunes have been interesting to the human passions, have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good.” [Italics added]

“In the United States gun-related deaths remain the leading cause of death for children and teens ages 1 to 17,” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reported. “Firearm mortality among youth has more than doubled since 2013.”

The National Rifle Association repeatedly donates ginormous sums of money to politicians re-election campaigns–federal, state and local. U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell [R-KY] is a factional recipient of the NRA’s political largesse. His mission in return: to “deregulate” gun ownership.

Why do I mention McConnell by name? Because the U.S. Supreme Court has left the celebrated 2002 McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in tatters. McConnell v. FEC (2003) and Citizens United v. FEC (2010) are two case examples. Today’s Congress needs to rise to the occasion, find the middle ground, and get the mega-money out of politics.

Harvard University, founded as a college in 1636, “characterizes today’s United States as a constitutional republic increasingly shaped by an extremely wealthy oligarchy and the heavy influence of money in politics.” President Trump and his trade-marked, far-right MAGA movement have repeatedly punished Harvard for publishing findings “misaligned with national priorities.”

“Men of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, may, by intrigue, by corruption, or by other means, first obtain the suffrages, and then betray the interests of the people,” Madison warned. “The question resulting is, whether small or extensive republics are more favorable to the election of proper guardians.”

The 2026 mid-term General Election is November 3. Vote!

About the Author: Sarah Becker started writing for The Economist while a graduate student in England. Similar publications followed. She joined the Crier in 1996 while serving on the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association Board. Her interest in antiquities began as a World Bank hire, with Indonesia’s need to generate hard currency. Balinese history, i.e. tourism provided the means. The New York Times describes Becker’s book, Off Your Duffs & Up the Assets, as “a blueprint for thousands of nonprofit managers.” A former museum director, SLAM’s saving grace Sarah received Alexandria’s Salute to Women Award in 2007. Email abitofhistory53@gmail.com.