Why can't factions be eliminated?

Answer 1

Factions are a right given to the people under the constitution. Factions play a part in the groups belief to improve the lifestyle of the people. Others create a life style away from the general beliefs as is their right in protest or for religious reasons. To eliminate factions is to propose a single entity of the government away from democratic ideals and into autocratic government.

Answer 2

James Madison addressed that problem in Federalist Paper #10. Many people had argued against the new Constitution claiming that the US would be too large to govern as a democracy (republic) and had too many groups, or “factions,” as political parties were then called. While Madison acknowledged that there were many differing factions, he also indicated that a democratic form of government, using the ideal of majority rule, would tame the factions and cause them to work together as much as possible. He claimed that the republican form of government created by the new Constitution would allow all the factions the room and venues to express themselves and to influence the workings of government by getting their members elected and/or appointed to offices. Minority groups would be protected because the factions would have to negotiate their differences. In this way, the republic would create a system of government in which the majority would rule but the ideas of the minority would have to be taken into consideration. Numerous factions would also mean that no one group would be able to take complete control of the government and this would give rise to what Madison called “politics,” namely, the art of gov