Pub. date: 2010 | Online Pub. Date: May 06, 2010 | DOI:
10.4135/9781412958660 | Print ISBN: 9781412958653 | Online ISBN:
9781412958660| Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc.About this
encyclopedia A political faction consists of a group of
individuals pursuing a specific purpose. The nature of a
political faction has changed according to different historical
periods. In the era of mass politics, factions had to operate in
structured and aggregative contexts; whereas in the era of elite
politics, factions could operate as autonomous actors in the
restricted electoral arena. Historically, elite factions were
the prologue of political parties. During the formative years of
the United States, factions were considered a mortal threat to
the deliberative spirit of the new republic (as expressed by
George Washington's Farewell Address of 1796). The rationale of
the 1787 Philadelphia Constitution was indeed to prevent the
tyranny of factions. A Enlarging ...