The Federalists Reloaded: No. 1
Reflection and Force: Hamilton Gave Us a Map. We Chose to Drift.
Dr. Herman Belz, my Constitutional History professor, introduced me to The Federalist Papers, required reading for his class. It was a 400-level course I took as a sophomore, well before I was prepared.
It turned out to be one of the most challenging and most rewarding courses I took.
Hamilton, Madison, and Jay weren’t just writing theory. They were sketching the framework for a republic that could stand the test of time, including its worst impulses. That idea that we could govern ourselves not because we’re perfect, but because we build systems strong enough to contain our flaws stuck with me.
I’ve carried a copy of The Federalist Papers with me ever since, through campaigns, policymaking, government service, and nonprofit work. It’s been in my bag during committee hearings and board meetings. And in a time when political dysfunction has become background noise, I decided it was time to go back, not for nostalgia, but clarity.
So I started reading again. And this time, I’m doing it with you. Hopefully, with you.
This series, The Federalists Reloaded, is about reading these essays with fresh eyes. Not to romanticize the Founders, and not to treat 1787 like a perfect moment. But to remind ourselves of what was said and how far we’ve drifted from it.
We begin where Hamilton began: with the opening argument in Federalist No. 1.
Hamilton Gave Us a Map. We Chose to Drift.
Here’s how Hamilton sets the tone:
“It seems to have been reserved to the people of this country… to decide the important question: whether societies of men are really capable of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend on accident and force.”
He’s not just talking about a vote. He’s talking about what kind of country we want to be, one governed by reason, or one constantly lurching from crisis to crisis, guided by whoever’s loudest that day.
In 2025, we’re living in the second half of that sentence. Force and accident. Outrage as strategy. Gridlock as normal. Reflection has become a luxury, and algorithms curate our choices. We didn’t lose the thread; we rewrote it into a feedback loop that rewards tribalism and punishes restraint.
And that, more than anything, is the drift Hamilton feared.
He Knew This Was Coming
Hamilton didn’t sugarcoat it. He knew people bring self-interest, ego, and bias into politics. He didn’t expect a perfect electorate; he expected a system that could manage imperfection without falling apart.
But he warned that public debates would get hijacked by emotion and partisanship:
“The plan offered... not to involve in its discussion a variety of objects foreign to its merits, and of views, passions and prejudices little favorable to the discovery of truth.”
Sound familiar?
He goes even further:
“A torrent of angry and malignant passions will be let loose... they will mutually hope to evince the justness of their opinions by the loudness of their declamations and the bitterness of their invectives.”
That’s the 18th-century version of “if I yell loud enough, I must be right.”
And now we’ve built an entire digital infrastructure around that. Every political algorithm is designed to keep us outraged, convinced, and surrounded by people who already agree with us. It’s not a bug, it’s the business model. Social media doesn’t reward curiosity. It rewards certainty. That’s not good for democracy.
We’re not arguing anymore, we’re branding. We’re performing for our side, not trying to persuade the other. And in the process, we’re gutting the very idea of what Hamilton called reflection.
We’re Not Broken, We’re Just Out of Practice
The American system wasn’t built for saints. It was built for people like us, flawed, impatient, loud, divided, but still capable of coming together under a shared structure. That was the genius.
But we’ve stopped using the structure. Instead of process, we use pressure. Instead of accountability, we have workarounds. And we wonder why things feel unstable.
The Constitution didn’t fail. We stopped following it.
So, how do we get back on track?
The Fix Isn’t Radical, It’s Intentional (with Receipts)
Let’s not overcomplicate this. The answers are right in front of us. They’ve always been there. We need to start using the system the way it was designed, not for show, but for results.
Here’s what that looks like in real terms:
🛑 Rein in emergency powers.
If a state of emergency goes on for years, it’s not an emergency; it’s a workaround. We’ve seen it with COVID, border policy, and even student loans. Presidents on both sides have kept national emergencies going for years, bypassing Congress with sweeping executive action. At some point, we need to return to normal governance, not permanent “temporary” powers.🏛️ Make Congress do its job.
If it’s too controversial to vote on, it’s too important to avoid. For decades, major issues such as war powers, surveillance renewal, and even tariffs have been kicked to the executive branch to avoid political heat. The result? Congress campaigns full-time and governs part-time. That has to stop.📋 End lawmaking by bureaucracy.
The CDC, EPA, IRS, and Department of Education shouldn’t be setting national policy by press release. When agencies issue binding rules with the force of law, often without public debate or legislative input, it erodes democratic accountability. Want clean air, safe workplaces, and student protections? Great. Pass laws to back them up, relying less on memos.🔐 Protect civil liberties — even when it’s inconvenient.
Section 702 surveillance gets reauthorized again and again, even though it’s been used to spy on Americans without a warrant. Protesters are surveilled. Whistleblowers are prosecuted more aggressively than fraudsters. The Bill of Rights doesn’t come with a disclaimer. If we’re serious about freedom, we have to stop treating it as situational.💸 Balance the budget.
A $36 trillion national debt (and climbing) isn’t just bad economics, it’s political cowardice. No household could live like this. Neither can a nation. If we need to raise revenue or trim spending, let’s do it like adults. Not through shutdown threats, gimmicks, or pretending debt doesn’t matter because it’s not due tomorrow.🏘️ Return power to the states and local communities.
When D.C. tries to run everything, it ends up running very little well. Want innovation in housing, education, health care, and policing? Let states lead. Federalism wasn’t a flaw; it was a feature. Different places have different needs. That was the idea all along.📚 Teach people how this works.
We’re asking people to defend a system they were never taught to use. Civic education is broken. Too many Americans can name all the Kardashians but not the three branches of government. If you don’t know your rights, you can’t protect them. If you don’t understand the system, you can’t fix it.
This isn’t a radical agenda. It’s a return to first principles. The Founders didn’t expect us to be perfect. They expected us to be serious.
This is what seriousness looks like.
The Hangover
We didn’t wind up here because of one party or one president. We wound up here because we drifted: slowly, casually, and with plenty of justifications along the way.
But the Constitution still works if we choose to work with it.
Hamilton believed we could govern ourselves. Not because we’re always right, but because we could build a structure that corrected us when we got it wrong.
That’s what The Federalists Reloaded is about. Not going back in time. Moving forward with intention. With the map Hamilton gave us and the humility to admit we’ve been off course.
We don’t need to burn it down. We need to start steering again.
Thanks for reading. If this resonates, stick around. If it challenges you, even better.
Next up: Federalist No. 2 — on unity, and why it takes more than slogans to hold a country together.
Really looking forward to this series. The encouragement I needed to read through them again
Scott - this will be a very valuable series. Thank you for doing this!