In The Federalist papers, James Madison expressed the view that political factions

• A. should be nurtured by a free nation
• B. should play a minor role in any free nation
• C. are central to the creation of a free nation
• D. are undesirable but inevitable in a free nation

Answer: (D)

Political factions are a natural outgrowth of liberty and differing interests, a point Madison makes in Federalist No. 10. He argues that in a free nation these groups will form because people have different opinions, economic situations, and stakes, so you can’t eliminate factions without curtailing liberty. They’re undesirable because they can pursue interests that infringe on the rights of others or threaten the public good. Yet they are inevitable in a free nation; the challenge is to design a government that controls their effects. That’s why a large republic with broad representation helps—many competing factions make it harder for any single group to dominate. Choices suggesting we should nurture factions, limit their role, or view them as central to forming a free nation miss the nuance Madison presents.