Majoritarianism | Democracy, Representation, Plurality

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class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/majoritarianism/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/majoritarianism">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-related-questions"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 pb-0 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-15"> Related Questions </div> <ul> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/What-is-democracy">What is democracy?</a> </li> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/Where-was-democracy-first-practiced">Where was democracy first practiced?</a> </li> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/How-is-democracy-better-than-other-forms-of-government">How is democracy better than other forms of government?</a> </li> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/Why-does-democracy-need-education">Why does democracy need education?</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="mb-30 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Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). </div> <div class="type-menu"> <label for="feedback-type" class="label mb-10">Feedback Type</label> <select id="feedback-type" class="form-select mb-30" name="feedbackTypeId" required> <option value="" selected="selected">Select a type (Required)</option> <option value="1">Factual Correction</option> <option value="2">Spelling/Grammar Correction</option> <option value="3">Link Correction</option> <option value="4">Additional Information</option> <option value="5">Other</option> </select> </div> <label for="feedback" class="label mb-10">Your Feedback</label> <textarea id="feedback" class="form-control mb-30" name="feedback" maxlength="3000" rows="7" required></textarea> <button class="btn btn-blue" type="submit">Submit Feedback</button> </form> <div class="success-messaging d-none mt-30"> <div class="title">Thank you for your feedback</div> <p>Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="md-websites-modal size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 font-serif pb-15 border-bottom font-weight-bold"> External Websites </div> <div class="pb-20"> <ul class="list-unstyled mt-20 lh-lg"> <li><a class="external" href="http://www.academia.edu/4517141/Proportional_representation_vs_the_majoritarian_system" target="_blank" rel="noopener ">Academia - Proportional Representation vs the Majoritarian System</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="toc-header-marker"></div> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 js-header-ai-ask-button d-none btn-sm btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 mr-0 mr-lg-10 ml-5 ml-sm-10 ml-lg-0 p-10"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> <div class="md-byline module-spacing "> <div class="font-serif font-12"> <span class="written-by text-gray-700"> Written by </span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/contributor/Nicholas-Capaldi/9451327" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">Nicholas Capaldi</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Legendre-Soulé Distinguished Chair in Business Ethics, Loyola University, New Orleans; Director of the National Center for Business Ethics. He contributed an article on “Majoritarianism” to SAGE Publications’...</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Nicholas Capaldi</span></div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/majoritarianism/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Related Topics: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/democracy" topicid="157129">democracy</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/majoritarianism"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref1189072"></span>majoritarianism</strong>, the idea that the numerical majority of a population should have the final say in determining the outcome of a decision.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">From the time of classical Greek philosophers through the 18th century, including the founders of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">United States</a> such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Madison" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">James Madison</a>, majoritarianism has had a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="pejorative" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pejorative" data-type="MW">pejorative</a> <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="connotation" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/connotation" data-type="MW">connotation</a>. It was routinely presumed that the majority of the population was poor and ignorant. It was also presumed that the majority, if given the power and opportunity to do so, would tyrannize over any and all minorities. The latter view was of great concern in the 19th century to English philosopher and economist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Stuart-Mill" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">John Stuart Mill</a> and French historian and political scientist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexis-de-Tocqueville" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Alexis de Tocqueville</a>, the latter of whom coined the phrase “tyranny of the majority.”</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Starting in the 18th century, majoritarianism began to acquire a positive connotation. To begin with, it was argued that any individual or group less than the majority was also capable of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="tyranny" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tyranny" data-type="MW">tyranny</a>. The classical view had been that only some individuals had the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="intellectual" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual" data-type="MW">intellectual</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/moral-virtue" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">moral virtue</a> that enabled them to determine the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/common-good" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">common good</a>. That view was challenged in the Enlightenment view by French philosophers <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Jacques-Rousseau" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jean-Jacques Rousseau</a> and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas-de-Caritat-marquis-de-Condorcet" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">marquis de Condorcet</a>, who believed that through proper education anyone could be capable of determining the common good.</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-read-more-module" href="/topic/democracy/The-spread-of-democracy-in-the-20th-century#ref796605" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/59/193559-050-49214FA2/Voters-ballots-California-election-2012.jpg" alt="voting in the 2012 U.S. presidential election" class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-navy-dark">More From Britannica</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">democracy: Majoritarian and consensual systems</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/contributor/Nicholas-Capaldi/9451327">Nicholas Capaldi</a></span> <span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":933317,"pageLength":214,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"A","adLeg":"A","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"SMALL","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Majoritarianism | Democracy, Representation, Plurality | Britannica