Connor Johnson
Mr. Neumeyer
A.P. Government
20 January 2015
The Role of “Majority Rules” in American Politics When you think of a democracy, you generally think of a governmental system that has the core principle of “majority rules.” With a true democracy, a country is trying to protect minority’s rights while at the same time allowing the popular majority to rule. The concept of “majority rules” was established to organize the American government and decide public issues without taking away the basic rights and freedoms of minority groups. In 2000, California began its fight to keep marriage between opposite sex couples and passed Proposition 22 with 61% of the popular vote. Over the next 13 years, California courts fought diligently to overturn this and allow same-sex couples to marry in the state. Finally in 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of Proposition 8 which allowed same-sex marriage therefore accepting the previous court’s ruling and ultimately allowing this in California. The role of “majority rules” is a very key arguing factor in this case and in simple terms, this kind of election was the right way to go in this scenario. If the United States wants to have a properly functioning democracy, individual rights may be honored, but only those licensed by the majority should be accepted. Minority rights may be listened to and strongly considered but if they are given full voice, the United States democracy will never function as it was intended to. In the case of Proposition 8, the state of California held a general election among the population of the state. This was the right course of action because with such a controversial issue, it needed to be ensured that the minority group that supported same-sex marriage didn’t have the controlling voice on the decision, a general election was fair to make sure that everyone had their say. According to Federalist 10, Madison would consider proponents of same-sex marriage a faction because they were a number of citizens, whether a majority or minority, who were united and activated "by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community." As Madison continued to explain, removing factions completely would be impossible but came to the conclusion that limiting their effects was the most that the United States government could do. Madison was not a large supporter of factions and in this case he may have sided with the “majority rules” ruling. Those people that are opposed to the “majority rules” view of democracy don’t like the idea of reliance on a person or combination of person’s viewpoints. They argue that any person or group of persons is not qualified to rule and that only those with ample qualifications should be able to suggest opinions to be decided on. As Lysander Spooner said, “a man is none the less a slave because he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years.” A true democracy is one that allows “majority rules” decisions and willingly takes in the interests of others. If the United States wants to claim that they run a democracy as their form of government, they need to realize that “majority rules” should remain sovereign in all cases. Individual viewpoints may be considered but the only ones that are acted upon must be voted on by the majority. The proponents of the majority rule form of democracy hold
Basic Concepts of Democracy Democracies • From the Greek demos (people) and kratia (to rule). Thus ~ rule by the people Too simple & naïve • Democracy is a system of government in which people select policy makers so that policies reflect the will of those governed. (explain…) Two forms of Democracy • Direct democracy allows the people the authority to govern themselves directly • People make and vote on policies in forums • Only exist in small communities today Two forms of Democracy…
Period 4 November 20, 2014 The Essay: Civil Disobedience In the essay by Henry David Thoreau, rightly named “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau goes against the government of the United States. He gives us the “proper” advice for being a good citizen. As all people have their own opinions on how to be a good citizen, Thoreau’s is very… drastic. Even so, many points that he makes are correct. He goes against the government, the military and the ruling of majority, and even goes as far as to advise us to break the law…
Political Science 1020E Professor Nigmendra Narain Term 1 Essay: What role should religion play in government policies? By Nivedita Sen Student Number: 250589199…
asdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdf Tyranny of the majority From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For the form of democracy, see Ochlocracy. For the Flesh Field album, see Tyranny of the Majority (album). The phrase "tyranny of the majority" (or "tyranny of the masses"), used in discussing systems of democracy and majority rule, envisions a scenario in which decisions made by a majority place its interests so far above those of an individual or minority group as to constitute active oppression, comparable…
Government Essay Canada is a physically large country with a relatively small population. Having a country as large as ours requires multiple levels of government to maintain control over the population. Here in Canada we have three levels of government, Federal, Provincial, and Municipal. The federal government maintains general control over Canada but has little influence on provincial and municipal matters. The Provincial government, under the jurisdiction of the Federal government, Maintains…
Elsa Pham-Minh Evaluation of the argument Group Minds by Doris Lessing 1. Provide a short summary Doris Lessing’s Group Minds talks about the fact that human nature belongs to groups. Throughout the entire essay, Doris Lessing talks about critical thinking. What she means by critical thinking is the ability to think for ourselves and to disagree. According to Lessing, being able to think critically also means that we are educated and have our own opinions. She talks about critical thinking…
The vast majority of Lord of the Flies takes place without adults. When the boys are stranded on the island, they are left to their own devices and it is not until the novel’s end that an adult appears to rescue them. Despite the absence of actual adults, the boys are constantly referring to adults (see quotes, below) and they believe that they are attempting to construct an adult world. Write an analytic essay in which you discuss the symbolic importance of adults for the boys. Consider the possibility…
intended for his essay to explain his thoughts and feelings toward the American government at that time. He was unsatisfied with the way the politicians were running the country. He disagreed with the war that was going on between America and Mexico and he also was angered by the fact that many Americans had slaves. He did not believe that the ordinary man had any virtue or decency to make decisions based on the right thing to do rather than for his own personal gain. Thoreau wrote this essay because he…
with the decision of what is right and wrong, something that we face every day.and also Obama’s. You then make another assumption that vast majority of people try marijuana at some point and that the vast majority of baseball players have sued steroids such as HGH, or human growth hormone, stanozol, and many other substances. As I continued to read your essay I asked myself, why should I believe you? Where was the evidence? Your article was not convincing to me because of the lack of evidence also…
Week 1-Ethics Essay Brandy King ETH/316 December 10, 2014 Dr. Michael Woods Week 1-Ethics Essay The definition of ethics is an area of study that deals with ideas about what is good and bad behavior; a branch of philosophy dealing with what is morally right or wrong. The definition of morality is belief about what is right behavior, and what is wrong behavior. The virtue ethical theory goes by an individual’s character, rather than by specific actions that are not of the person’s usual and normal…