The best provision for a
stable and free Govt. is not a balance in the powers of the Govt. tho' that is
not to be neglected, but an equilibrium in the interests & passions of the
society itself . . . .
The reason of man, like man himself, is timid and cautious when left alone, and acquires firmness and confidence in proportion to the number with which it is associated. . . . In a nation of philosophers, this consideration ought to be disregarded. A reverence for the laws would be sufficiently inculcated by the voice of an enlightened reason. But a nation of philosophers is as little to be expected as the philosophical race of kings wished for by Plato. And in every other nation, the most rational government will not find it a superfluous advantage to have the prejudices of the community on its side.
Below
is an excerpt from James Madison's Notes for the National
Gazette Essays, in 14 The Papers of James Madison 157, 158-63 (Robert
A. Rutland et al. eds., 1983):
. . . .
Whatever facilitates a general
intercommunication of sentiments & ideas among the body of the people, as a
free press, compact situation, good roads, interior commerce &c. is
equivalent to a contraction of the orbit with in wch. the Govt. is to act . . .
.
. . . .
Public opinion, sets bounds to every Government, and is
the real sovereign in every free one.
As there are cases where the public
opinion must be obeyed by the Government, so there are cases, where, not being
fixed, it may be influenced by the Government . . . .
. . . .
In
proportion as Government is influenced by opinion, must it so be by whatever
influences opinion. . . .
. . . .
In proportion as slavery
prevails in a State, the Government, however democratic in name, must be
aristocratic in fact.
Madison's observation that public opinion may be influenced by a Government ostensibly obligated to obey that very same public opinion begs a question: how does this ever-evolving feedback loop actually operate? The answer, according to Madison himself, is that most human beings exhibit herd-like impulses not only in terms of behavior, but also in terms of intellect and belief. As set forth in Federalist Paper No. 49, a work promulgated by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, most people do not primarily base their thoughts and views upon any independent exercise of rational reason. Instead, most people look for direction from the ideas and prejudices of their peer groups:
The best antidote to these factors and to herd-like factional behavior, according to Madison, is to deny any centralized political control of information or capital. Elite and wise individuals should be allowed interject themselves into public discourse, but such influence is not to be total, preclusive, or unelected. Instead of a Platonic approach, a natural, uncoerced "general intercommunication of sentiments & ideas among the body of the people" should be facilitated throughout a large geographic region. Over the long-term, this large-scale system of free-flowing information and capital will preclude the oppressive political control of any one faction and achieve the "equilibrium in the interests & passions of the society itself" that is necessary for a "stable and free" government.
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