However, Madison believed that a republican form of government could control for the impact of factions on the political process.

Madison believed that a republican form of government had several advantages over a straight democracy. First, under a democracy, there is no delegation of power to elected officials, which would make it unduly cumbersome to govern a country as large as America. Second, Madison believed that by entrusting the government to a small group of elected officials, one might be able to avoid the clashing and fighting that marked the existing political debate. However, Madison was not na ve; he recognized that a republican form of government was ripe for abuse if the elected offices were held by factious persons. To remedy that problem, Madison suggested that the number of elected officials be sufficiently large, "in order to guard against the cabals of a few; and that, however large it...
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