<P> Garry Wills is a noted critic of Madison's argument in Federalist No. 10 . In his book Explaining America, he adopts the position of Robert Dahl in arguing that Madison's framework does not necessarily enhance the protections of minorities or ensure the common good . Instead, Wills claims: "Minorities can make use of dispersed and staggered governmental machinery to clog, delay, slow down, hamper, and obstruct the majority . But these weapons for delay are given to the minority irrespective of its factious or nonfactious character; and they can be used against the majority irrespective of its factious or nonfactious character . What Madison prevents is not faction, but action . What he protects is not the common good but delay as such". </P> <P> Federalist No. 10 is the classic citation for the belief that the Founding Fathers and the constitutional framers did not intend American politics to be partisan . For instance, United States Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens cites the paper for the statement, "Parties ranked high on the list of evils that the Constitution was designed to check". Discussing a California provision that forbids candidates from running as independents within one year of holding a partisan affiliation, Justice Byron White made apparent the Court's belief that Madison spoke for the framers of the Constitution: "California apparently believes with the Founding Fathers that splintered parties and unrestrained factionalism may do significant damage to the fabric of government . See The Federalist, No. 10 (Madison)". </P> <P> Madison's argument that restraining liberty to limit faction is an unacceptable solution has been used by opponents of campaign finance limits . Justice Clarence Thomas, for example, invoked Federalist No. 10 in a dissent against a ruling supporting limits on campaign contributions, writing: "The Framers preferred a political system that harnessed such faction for good, preserving liberty while also ensuring good government . Rather than adopting the repressive' cure' for faction that the majority today endorses, the Framers armed individual citizens with a remedy". </P>

The factions madison argues against in federalist 10 are similar to modern day