The Federalist by {author}: summary and why it matters

What it argues

Writing as Publius in New York newspapers, the three authors answered the objections of the Anti-Federalists to the proposed Constitution. Hamilton wrote most of the essays, Madison some thirty, and Jay a handful.

Their arguments are by now classical. The Union is necessary for security and commerce, and the Articles of Confederation had failed. Factions, which are rooted in human nature and in the protection of unequal property, cannot be eliminated without destroying liberty, so the cure is a large republic with representatives, in which many interests check one another, as Madison argues in No. 10. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition by dividing power among branches, as No. 51 says, because men are not angels. An energetic executive is compatible with liberty, and, in No. 78, a judiciary, the least dangerous branch, may declare acts contrary to the Constitution void.

The essays also explain federalism, taxation, the Senate, and the amending power.

Why it matters

Courts and scholars still cite The Federalist as evidence of how the Constitution was understood, and originalists treat it with special respect. For conservatives it is also the source of a skeptical view of human nature that underlies limited and divided government.

About the author

The essays first appeared between October 1787 and May 1788 in New York newspapers under the pen name Publius, a Roman republican hero. Hamilton conceived the series and recruited Madison, then in New York as a delegate to the Confederation Congress, and Jay, who fell ill and wrote only five. The first collected edition was published in two volumes in 1788, and the authors' identities were not publicly confirmed until later.

Who should read it

Everyone who votes. Begin with Nos. 1, 10, 39, 47 through 51, 70 and 78, which can be read in an evening.