faithfully and responsibly, Madison goes out of his way to highlight one way in which the Constitutional Convention did in fact depart at least from of their commission: “the tenor” of reporting a plan requiring the confirmation they of the legislatures of all the States, “Instead have reported a plan which is to be confirmed by the and may be carried into effect by people, Madison takes special note of this point despite the fact that it nine States only” 40). (Federalist is and therefore potentially the most damaging, objection to his both “the most plausible,” argument, and also least urged in the publications which have swarmed against the “the This objection, according to Madison, been in a manner waived by those who convention.” “has have criticized the powers of the and therefore requires minimal response. Why, convention,” one might ask, would Madison make a point of raising what he considers the strongest available objection to his argument when it has already been waived by his opponents? Since doing so appears to run directly counter to ordinary rhetorical considerations, raising of the Madison’s ratification point here serves as an especially clear indication of its vital importance to his own understanding of the legitimacy of the ultimate product. Convention’s persistent emphasis upon the necessity of ratification by the people at large is Madison’s closely connected with one of the most important threads of in his thought “broad consistency” as a whole: his commitment to or popular sovereignty (Gibson 2002, “the republican principle” 335). This commitment, which is perhaps the clearest and most widely recognized unifying principle of political thought, drives famous determination to find Madison’s Madison’s “a republican remedy for the diseases most incident to republican (Federalist 10). government” Since the national government needs to be a real government in order to accomplish its acknowledged goals, and a real government needs to be if it is to conform to “republican” “the genius of the people of fundamental principles of the and America,” “the Revolution,” “the
faithfully and responsibly, Madison goes out of his way to highlight one way in which the Constitutional Convention did in fact depart at least from “the tenor” of their commission: “Instead of reporting a plan requiring the confirmation of the legislatures of all the States, they have reported a plan which is to be confirmed by the people, and may be carried into effect by nine States only” (Federalist 40). Madison takes special note of this point despite the fact that it is both “the most plausible,” and therefore potentially the most damaging, objection to his argument, and also “the least urged in the publications which have swarmed against the convention.” This objection, according to Madison, “has been in a manner waived by those who have criticized the powers of the convention,” and therefore requires minimal response. Why, one might ask, would Madison make a point of raising what he considers the strongest available objection to his argument when it has already been waived by his opponents? Since doing so appears to run directly counter to ordinary rhetorical considerations, Madison’s raising of the ratification point here serves as an especially clear indication of its vital importance to his own understanding of the legitimacy of the Convention’s ultimate product. Madison’s persistent emphasis upon the necessity of ratification by the people at large is closely connected with one of the most important “broad threads of consistency” in his thought as a whole: his commitment to “the republican principle” or popular sovereignty (Gibson 2002, 335). This commitment, which is perhaps the clearest and most widely recognized unifying principle of Madison’s political thought, drives Madison’s famous determination to find “a republican remedy for the diseases most incident to republican government” (Federalist 10). Since the national government needs to be a real government in order to accomplish its acknowledged goals, and a real government needs to be “republican” if it is to conform to “the genius of the people of America,” “the fundamental principles of the Revolution,” and “the