The Founders' Choice of Democracy

The Constitution was made in secret in the sight of 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states. Despite this people today only recognize there to be 7 key founding fathers, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton. These founding fathers had the ability to choose what type of democracy they wanted America to follow, participatory, pluralist, or elite. Due to their own backgrounds and history they choose for the government to resemble a pluralist democracy.

Before seeing the intent of the founding fathers it is important to understand the main author of the Constitution, James Madison. This means that most of the Constitution is written by or about Madison's own ideas. So, the question we should be asking is what did Madison and the other key founding fathers intent for our government to be like? Madison's view on this subject can be understood through the writings in the Constitution as well as his own writings in the Federalist Papers. In Federalists No. 10 it is stated,"A pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of factions." This quote indicates that a pure democracy, or a participatory democracy, is only possible in a perfect world. This means that a pure democracy is unable to be created because factions will always form. Factions, Madison describes, create problems such as an overbearing majority, allowing for a greatly oppressed minority. So, with this knowledge Madison proposed a government that allowed pluralism to strive to the point where a there were so many factions that a majority could not be formed. In Article 1 of the Constitution it is written,"The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of several states." At first glance it may seem like this is an example of a participatory government, where the people directly vote in the government. However, if this is looked at side by side with Federalist No. 10 it is clear that this example of 'participatory democracy' is really an example of a pluralist government. Madison believed that a pure democracy would always have factions funneling people's votes into one voice with similar interests. The founding fathers didn't intent to have a pluralist democracy, but knew it was inevitable and for this reason built a government that was able to control the effects of factions.

A pluralist democracy was the government the founding fathers prepared to defend against the "the mortal diseases" of factions. For factions were never wanted in the government, but the founding fathers knew that is was impossible to get rid of them without removing individual rights of citizens. With a democracy there will always come factions, just as with a rose garden one must contend with thorns. The founding fathers built a pluralist government that would de-thorn factions of their "instability, injustice, and confusion"(Madison, The Federalist No. 10).