The Federalist Papers · Chapter
XLVI: The Influence of the State and Federal Governments Compared explained
James Madison argues that the state governments will naturally hold the advantage over the federal government in the affections of the people, due to their closer connection to daily life and local interests.
What happens
James Madison argues that the state governments will naturally hold the advantage over the federal government in the affections of the people, due to their closer connection to daily life and local interests. He contends that the federal government is unlikely to encroach on state powers because its members will carry local biases, and that even if it attempted to, the states, supported by the people and a well-armed militia, would successfully resist. The ultimate authority resides in the people, who will judge between the two governments based on performance.
Themes in this chapter
Federalism and the Necessity of Union
Explores the balance of power between state and federal governments, arguing that state governments will naturally retain popular support.
Republican Government and Representation
Discusses how both governments are agents of the people, with ultimate authority residing in the citizens.
Human Nature and the Capacity for Self-Government
Highlights the tendency of representatives to favor local interests over national ones, reflecting human nature's influence on governance.
Characters to notice
- James Madison
Author of this paper, writing as Publius, comparing the influence of state and federal governments.
- Publius
The collective pseudonym under which this Federalist Paper is published.
- Congress
Mentioned as the federal council whose proceedings often reflected local rather than national interests.
- The Judges
Referenced indirectly in the context of state officers and oaths.
Key passages
“The federal and state governments are in fact but different agents and trustees of the people, constituted with different powers, and designed for different purposes.”
Both the national and state governments are merely representatives of the people, each with distinct roles and responsibilities.
Madison emphasizes the shared foundation of both governments in the people's authority.
“The ultimate authority, wherever the derivative may be found, resides in the people alone.”
All governmental power ultimately comes from the people themselves.
Key assertion of popular sovereignty as the basis for both federal and state legitimacy.
“The first and most natural attachment of the people will be to the governments of their respective states.”
People will naturally feel more loyalty to their state governments than to the federal government.
Madison argues that state governments have inherent advantages in winning popular affection.
“A local spirit will infallibly prevail much more in the members of Congress, than a national spirit will prevail in the legislatures of the particular states.”
Members of Congress will inevitably prioritize local interests over national ones, more so than state legislators prioritize national concerns.
Highlights the expected bias toward localism in the federal legislature.
“The people and the states should, for a sufficient period of time, elect an uninterrupted succession of men ready to betray both; that the traitors should, throughout this period, uniformly and systematically pursue some fixed plan for the extension of the military establishment... must appear to everyone more like the incoherent dreams of a delirious jealousy.”
The idea that the people would repeatedly elect traitors who would build a military force to oppress them is a paranoid fantasy.
Madison dismisses fears of federal military tyranny as unrealistic.
