Majoritarianism
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Majoritarianism is a
Under a democratic majoritarian
Advocates of majoritarianism argue that majority decision making is intrinsically democratic and that any restriction on majority decision making is intrinsically undemocratic. If democracy is restricted by a constitution that cannot be changed by a simple majority decision, then yesterday's majority is being given more weight than today's. If it is restricted by some small group, such as aristocrats, judges, priests, soldiers, or philosophers, then society becomes an oligarchy. The only restriction acceptable in a majoritarian system is that a current majority has no right to prevent a different majority emerging in the future; this could happen, for example, if a minority persuades enough of the majority to change its position. In particular, a majority cannot exclude a minority from future participation in the democratic process. Majoritarianism does not prohibit a decision being made by representatives as long as this decision is made via majority rule, as it can be altered at any time by any different majority emerging in the future.
One critique of majoritarianism is that systems without
Types
Majoritarianism, as a concept of government, branches out into several forms. The classic form includes
History and legacy
There are relatively few instances of large-scale majority rule in recorded history, most notably the majoritarian system of Athenian democracy and other ancient Greek city-states. However, some argue that none of those Greek city-states were truly majority rule, particularly due to their exclusion of women, non-landowners, and slaves from decision-making processes. Most of the famous ancient philosophers staunchly opposed majoritarianism, because decisions based on the will of the uneducated and uninformed 'masses' are not necessarily wise or just. Plato is a prime example with his Republic, which describes a societal model based on a tripartite class structure. Anarchist anthropologist David Graeber offers a reason as to why majority democratic government is so scarce in the historical record. "Majority democracy, we might say, can only emerge when two factors coincide: 1. a feeling that people should have equal say in making group decisions, and 2. a coercive apparatus capable of enforcing those decisions." Graeber argues that those two factors almost never meet: "Where egalitarian societies exist, it is also usually considered wrong to impose systematic coercion. Where a machinery of coercion did exist, it did not even occur to those wielding it that they were enforcing any sort of popular will."[11]
Majoritarianism (as a theory), similar to democracy, has often been used as a pretext by sizable or aggressive minorities to politically oppress other smaller (or civically inactive) minorities, or even sometimes a civically inactive majority (see
Reform and backlash
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TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY.[12]... In America the majority raises formidable barriers around the liberty of opinion; within these barriers an author may write what he pleases, but woe to him if he goes beyond them.
— Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Volume I, Chapter XV (1835)
In recent times—especially beginning in the 1960s—some forms of majoritarianism have been countered by
This has provoked a backlash from some advocates of majoritarianism, who lament the Balkanization of society they claim has resulted from the gains made by the multicultural agenda; these concerns were articulated in a 1972 book, The Dispossessed Majority, written by Wilmot Robertson. Multiculturalists, in turn, have accused majoritarians of racism and xenophobia.[citation needed]
See also
- Argumentum ad populum
- Majoritarian democracy
- Collectivism and individualism
- Consensus decision-making
- Consensus democracy
- Direct democracy
- Minoritarianism (opposite)
- Minority rights
- Popular democracy
- Populism
- Tyranny of the majority
- Utilitarian ethics
References
- ^ A Przeworski, JM Maravall, I NetLibrary Democracy and the Rule of Law (2003) p. 223
- .
- ^ ISBN 978-0-88133-367-1.
- ISSN 0165-1765.
- S2CID 214451776.
- ^ "Full Text of the U.S. Constitution | Constitution Center". National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
- ^ "What is MMP?". Elections. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
- JSTOR 10.3998/mpub.16507.
- ^ McGann, Anthony J. (2002-10-01). "The Tyranny of the Super-Majority: How Majority Rule Protects Minorities".
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(help) - ^ Reynolds, Andrew (December 9–11, 1999). "Majoritarian or Power-Sharing Government" (PDF). www.nd.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 8, 2001. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
- ^ Graeber, David. Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology Archived 2008-11-18 at the Wayback Machine (2004) p. 89
- ^ Title of a section in Chapter XV of de Tocqueville's book Democracy in America (1835)