Download or read book The Political Philosophy of James Madison written by Garrett Ward Sheldon and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2003-02-13 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tracing the history of Madison's thought to his early education in Protestant theology, Sheldon argues that it was a fear of the potential "tyranny of the majority" over individual rights, along with a firmly Calvinist suspicion of the motives of sinful men, that led him to support a constitution creating a strong central government with power over state laws. In this way, Madison aimed to protect individual liberties and provide checks to "spiteful" human interests and selfish parochial prejudices.