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Majority rule
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Majority rule (more precisely, the majority rule) is the rule or law that requires more than half of the members of a polity who cast a vote to agree in order for the entire polity to make a decision on the measure being voted on. The process of voting generally implies the majority rule, in order to determine the preference or will of the majority. More broadly, the term is used in discussions regarding the principles of majority rule and the protection of individual and minority rights.
A common misconception of majority rule is that it can be soundly used to determine majority rights among a class of voters, or be used as a form of mob rule over a minority as an expression of majoritarianism. However, the class of voters and their equal rights must be decided beforehand as a separate act.[1] The majority rule, utilized thereafter as a convincing method of democratic decision making, is then assumed to be universally binding among all voters as a function of equal rights. This logic prevents the use of voting as a majoritarian tyranny. Any decision that unfairly targets a minority's rights could be said to be majoritarian, but would not be a logically sound example of a majority decision, which categorically assumes equal rights established by charter or constitution. Of course, all of the above assumes a constitutional democracy, which is not always the case with all democratic countries.
- ^ A Przeworski, JM Maravall, I NetLibrary Democracy and the Rule of Law (2003) p.223