Majority Rule With Minority Rights
Majority rule with minority rights is one of five limits on government featured in the KTB Prep American Government and Civics series designed to acquaint users with the origins, concepts, organizations, and policies of the United States government and political system. The goal is greater familiarization with the rights and obligations of citizenship at the local, state, national, and global levels and the history of our nation as a democracy.
Limits on Government
Throughout history, there have been governments that had too much power and
ended up abusing that power. They limited people’s freedom, mistreated people, and even committed mass murders. In some places, that still happens today. Government isn’t evil—but the people who run governments do need to be kept in check so they can’t abuse their power. There are 5 recognized limits on power in Republican governments our Constitution ensures:
- Rule of Law
- Separation of Powers
- Consent of the Governed
- Majority Rule with Minority Rights
- Constitutionalism
Majority Rule With Minority Rights
The essence of democracy is majority rule, the making of binding decisions by a vote of more than one-half of all persons who participate in an election. However, constitutional democracy in our time requires majority rule with minority rights.
John Patrick
In a democracy, people generally accept the results of the majority voters in free elections. Laws enacted in legislatures represent the will of the majority of the lawmakers. Since lawmakers are elected by the people, the laws are accepted by the people.
However, the will of the majority is both endorsed and limited by the supreme law of the constitution, which protects the rights of individuals. Left unchecked, it could be used to oppress persons holding unpopular views and is potentially just as despotic as the unchecked rule of an autocrat or an elitist minority political party. Tyranny of the minority over the majority is no more permissible than tyranny of the majority over the minority.
Elected officials must make authoritative decisions about two questions:
- When, and under what conditions, should the rule of the majority be curtailed in order to protect the rights of the minority?
- When, and under what conditions, must the rights of the minority be restrained in order to prevent the subversion of the majority?
These questions must be answered in order to ensure justice is sustained in a robust constitutional democracy.
