Devil's Advocate: The Federalist Papers required the use of privately owned printing presses for large-scale distribution. I'm not sure we can ever disentangle corporations from democracy, especially in America.
the federalist papers were not an official act of government. they were anonymously published (these days we would call it a "leak") think pieces designed to tilt elite opinion. we look upon them sympathetically because we agree with many of the positions espoused in the papers, but make no mistake, the publishing of the federalist papers was electioneering.
Technically, there were also the Anti-Federalist papers - and together, they were a public debate over what the new Democratic Constitutional Republic (more or less) should look like.
Also, yes, they were trying to garner support and interest. Probably.
