Majority rule is the principle that the greater number should exercise greater power. The Khmer Rouge takeover in Cambodia is a good example of a majority rule government. During the Cambodian genocide‚ the Khmer Rouge and their notorious leader‚ Pol Pot‚ represented the majority after it defeated the Lol Non government. The question is how are they considered to be the majority when most of the population of Cambodia is against them? They used fear to make the people their followers and thus controlled
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Tyranny of Majority Tyranny of Majority refers to the belief in which the majority of society or a group agrees upon an action which does not incisively mean that‚ that opinion is correct. I believe that this occurs more in a democratic government than anywhere else‚ we as a country elect our representatives to exercise their opinion or rule on what are best benefits for the majority of the country. The great issue about leaving the decision to the majority is that eventually it could fail by
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In the essay “The Tyranny of the Majority”‚ Lani Guinier expresses her concern that the will of the majority may trample the rights of the minority‚ which I completely agree with. Guinier speaks of the Golden Rule and the idea that if the Golden Rule is not applied‚ the majority will lack in recognizing‚ and taking in account the desires‚ let alone consider the ideas of the minority‚ representing how this is in no way a democratic process. The Golden Rule is simply stated as “Treat others as you
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In this excerpt from Democracy in America Alexis Tocqueville expresses his sentiments about the United States democratic government. Tocqueville believes the government’s nature exists in the absolute supremacy of the majority‚ meaning that those citizens of the United States who are of legal age control legislation passed by the government. However‚ the power of the majority can exceed its limits. Tocqueville believed that the United States was a land of equality‚ liberty‚ and political wisdom.
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Tyranny of the majority is a situation in which a group of people are treated unfairly due to the fact that their situation is different from the situation of most of the people in a democratic country. This is a problem that the Enlightenment and Romantic periods faced. Tyranny of the majority heavily impacted social order and justice in these periods. Alexis de Tocqueville saw that public opinion would become an all-powerful force‚ and that the majority of people could tyrannize unpopular minorities
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Democracy is a system‚ which stresses the importance of establishing “a social state in which all have equal rights” and that the rule of the majority is always the best. However‚ constitutions on the other hand‚ “are codes of rules which aspire to regulate the allocation of powers…among…government”. This conflicts with the concept of democracy as it places restrictions on what the government; elected “by the people‚ for the people”; can do. Surprisingly‚ the country that is often perceived as the
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Threat of Tyranny of the Majority not Strong enough to "Temper" the Spirit of Democracy In the present political spectrum‚ democracy is essentially understood as both the most humane and effective means by which to govern a body politic. While democracy is currently relatively non-controversial‚ this was not the case during its establishment. The democratic experiment in America was viewed somewhat indifferently by many of the world’s prominent political philosophers. Alexis de Tocqueville and John
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According to Mill‚ freedom means to be protected against the tyranny of political governors. Rulers need to be recognized by people because the rulers interest are equal to the interest of the nation There are two methods to obtain liberty; the first one is by owning political rights and the second one is to have common agreed constitutional examination. He argues that there are some limitations that are required in order to achieve individual freedom. This freedom is in charge of establishing the
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More than two hundred years ago‚ our Founding Fathers found out the fact that by creating a nation‚ a symbol‚ they could take back the land‚ political power‚ as well as many other profits from British Empire. In chapter four “Tyranny is tyranny” from the book called “A people’s history of the United States” by Howard Zinn‚ the whole picture of America on its first days is once again re-performed in front of our eyes. First of all‚ we should know the reason why our Founding Fathers wanted to create
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Tocqueville Essay Alexis de Tocqueville believed that government control lied within the majority of the United States. He believed the United States to be a land of equality‚ liberty‚ and political wisdom‚ and considered it a land where the government only served as a voice for its citizens. However‚ abuse of that power can lead the majority to exceed its limits. The majority had a strong influence on not just the government‚ but also the whole nation. However‚ this was untrue for the minority
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