Question

Please help, confused, any help appreciated :)...Explain the meaning of the following quotes from The Federalist Papers:
*"Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates, every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob."
*"Ambition must be made to counteract ambition."

Answer 1

1)I think it is essentially saying that no matter how good the individual may be, the mob mentality can still arise. In the case of the Athenian assembly, the vast amount of power divided among so few led to power struggles and soon what Madison refers to as "a mob". That's my take anyway. A long way of saying power corrupts.

2)James Madison was refering to the new system of democratic government that the founding fathers were attempting to create when they wrote the constitution. They felt that government is a more effective means by which to serve the people when the self interests of each individual are pitted against those of otheres, inevitibly resulting in the need for compromise. Through compromise, Madison felt, society as a whole would benefit greater then any one individual party. It is fair to relate this style of thinking to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, a book which many historians agree influenced the founding fathers greatly.

Answer 2

Awesome, thanks. =D

Answer 3

No problem :)