This week we look at the principle of republicanism, and how Madison argues in favor of it in Federalist #10. If you read Federalist #10 closely enough you'll notice that it argues that majorities can be broken apart by issues that divide them. Madison was worried that the majority of non-property owners would violate the rights of the minority of property owners, and that the democratic process would make that easy to do.
I want you to apply that principle by looking at what we are learning about the nature of the current Republican Party throughout the electoral process so far. As with the Democratic Party, Republicans have internal divisions, many are coming to light as the various candidates reveal them by appealing to libertarians, neo-conservatives, or social conservatives, or other groups. Democrats hope that these divisions will split the party and make the eventual nominee uncompetitive in November, but it is far too early to determine if that is likely to occur.
For now I want you to catch up on the campaigns of the remaining Republican presidential candidates and discuss what their relative successes tell us about the major divisions within the party. Comment on whether these divisions are sever enough to cause the party major problems in November.
