LAD # 5: Federalist #10

1) Why are factions so difficult to eliminate?

The difficulty in eliminating factions can be found in the means by which it was created in the first place.  For factions to arise, there needs to be a certain degree of liberty and freedom.  Therefore one way to eliminate factions are to get rid of this liberty and freedom.  Yet, this is not a reasonable option because it was the same liberty and freedom that America was built upon.  The second requirement for factions to emerge is differing opinions.  People need to have opposing views on things in order for there to be different factions.  So, one could try to get everyone to believe the same things and have the same views so that factions wouldn't exist.  Still this is also a bad option because not everyone is the same, and everyone grows up in different settings which yields differing opinions.  During these times the main cause of factions was unequal distribution of land, which caused people to have differing views.

2) If factions cannot be removed then how can they be controlled?
Like in the ways to eliminate factions, there is more than one way to control factions.  If a faction is part of a minority then it can be controlled through democratically voting with the majority overruling the minority faction.  If the faction makes up the majority of the population, then it has to be controlled differently.  In this case, one must try to get the minority people to speak up and express any differing opinions so that there is it least a discussion as to what actions should be taken.  Factions can also be controlled through picking representatives for different areas, along with uniting the states.  This unification can help control factions because even if a faction may be strong in a specific area, other areas have differing opinions and ideas, along with their own representation.