Analysis of the Federalist Papers
Uploaded by spootyhead on Feb 19, 2007
Analysis of the Federalist Papers
The aim of the Federalist Papers was to set up a debate for a new constitution, by which our country could govern. The purpose was to setup a more stable and organized government, while protecting the citizens’ liberties. Life was unstable, and there was little government intervention. Madison, Hamilton and Jay took it upon themselves to devise a new constitution that gave government more involvement in everyday life, but didn’t jeopardize anyone’s freedom. With this in mind, they wrote the Federalist Papers to persuade the federalists, who were against the new constitution. As we know the new constitution was put into place and our countries first policies began to take shape. As in all politics, the Federalist Papers are analyzable to us through the five lenses of rationality, collective action, the institutions, the policy set forth, and the history of our previous decisions.
To Publius, the group of authors who wrote the Federalist Papers, the current system of government was not efficient. They felt the best interest of the country was a government that had more control. They felt that all the factions that this much liberty allowed was not positive, although their intention was not to threaten liberty, but to make everyone more equal instead of just those who have property and wealth. Not only was this a rational and beneficial idea to them, but they felt it was for the best interest of the growing nation. For the anti-federalists, there was a large group of numbers to work with in terms of collective action. They had to appeal rationally enough to the federalists to persuade them as well as to the rest of the American people some of whom were already happy. One way that they argued against the federalists to gain numbers was explaining that the current republic didn’t necessarily benefit all of the different classes. The institution that was in place was the American government which at the time was a set of rules mainly aimed to the interests of the landowning white mails. Although the new constitution didn’t erase this problem it provided the first steps towards equality. The outcome of the Federalist Papers, or the policy that was eventually set in place is what became the United States constitution. This was the foundation that our modern day government was created on.
Much history was taken into consideration when the anti-federalists wrote the...