II.

Early Nonpartisanship

The framers of the United States Constitution made no provision in the governmental structure for the functioning of political parties because they believed that parties were a source of corruption and an impediment to the freedom of people to judge issues on their merits. James Madison argued in his The Federalist “No. 10” paper against a system in which “factions” (his word for parties) might be able to seize control of the government (see Federalist, The). George Washington, in accordance with the thinking of his fellow Founding Fathers, included in his Cabinet men of diverse political philosophies and policies, rather than narrow his choices to those of a single political outlook.