Argument Against Majority Rule

Should a democratic state concerned with justice adopt measures to constrain the power of majority rule? This essay will attempt to answer this question by addressing a proposed problem with majority rule and whether it is possible to solve this problem while adhering the principle of justice. First I will discuss majority rule and how it manifests in democratic institutions. Second, I will cite Iris Young, who, in her essay Polity and Group Difference, offers a criticism of majority rule, namely that it contributes to the continued oppression of minority groups. Third, because the issue of justice is central to this discussion, I will provide three interpretations of justice from Jean Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill and John Rawls. I will …show more content…
This means that it is possible for a vote to take place in which forty-nine percent of the population votes against it, yet still passes. In this way, whenever fifty-plus-one or more win a vote, they are able to further their own interests at the expense of the forty-nine or less. Thus, if democratic institutions are not constrained to some extent, a democracy may dissolve into tyranny as described in Plato’s Republic. Thus, Western democracies have in place several forms of constraints that limit the ability of the majority to exert its power over the minority (or minorities). To take one example, the American Constitution has laws that allow each of the three branches of government (executive, legislative and judicial) to provide checks on the other two. For instance, the legislative branch holds to power to declare war, impeach the president (house), override Presidential vetoes, and enact taxes and allocate funds . These laws allow the legislative branch (which is voted into power separately from the executive) to check the power of the executive such that the minority (or minorities) are not ruled over