-> I don't buy that.  There were political parties at the time of
-> formation of the Constitution.  Namely the federalists and the
-> anti-federalists. The founding fathers were members of those
-> parties, and others, namely Jefferson, founded other political
-> parties.
We may be arguing the fine points of semantics, Nolan.  Certainly, there
were political FACTIONS like the federalists and anti-federalists.
These were not yet like the political PARTIES like the Whigs and Tories
in England, which the founders were certainly familiar with.
In the book, DECISION IN PHILADELPHIA: The Constitutional Convention of
1787, historians Christopher and James Lincoln Collier claim:
BEGIN QUOTE ************************************************************
But it had occurred to David Hume that there might be certain advantages
to largeness and diversity.  In a large state the members of factions
would be so spread out and remote from one another that there would be
no way for them to form into unified pressure groups.  (We remember how
slow communication was at the time.)
How much Madison took from Hume is hard to say.  But he came to believe
that a republican government was not only possible in a larger unit, but
would actually work better in a large state than in a small one, because
in a place like America, where it took weeks to travel from one end to
the next, and letters frequently never reached their destination, it
would be impossible for factions to organize nationally.  The farmers of
western Massachusetts could cause trouble locally, but htye could not
form an alliance with South Carolinians with the same grievance, because
the distances were too great.  In general, interest groups, often
representing local majorities, would neutralize each other in a national
legislature.  Thus despite the conventional wisdom, Madison believed
that good government could work in a large country - what he termed an
"extended republic".
END QUOTE ************************************************************
There were no political PARTIES during Washington's presidency.  They
developed during John Adams term, and were in full bloom during the
Adams - Jefferson election campaign.
In retrespect, I personally don't understand how Madison could have
believed that parties wouldn't develop.  Hadn't the farmers of
Massachusetts and South Carolina been able to get together to declare
independence and fight the revolution?
Well, hindsight always was twenty-twenty.
Regards
John
--- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 
---------------