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The Pros And Cons Of Democracy And Majority Rule

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Democracy and majority rule appear to give legitimacy to acts that might otherwise be defined as tyranny. Most of us agree that having our decisions made for us, on what we are eating for dinner or what Americas favorite sport is, made through the democratic process is tyranny. That being said, why isn’t it also tyranny for the majority to decide whether or not we recycle or whether or not we purchase health insurance?

The founders of our country intended for us to have a republican form of limited government where political decision-making is kept to the minimum.

In Federalist Paper No. 10, James Madison wrote, “Measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.”

These same founders intended for Americans to have a republican form of limited government where political decision-making is kept to the minimum. …show more content…

One such rule is election of the president is not decided by a majority vote but instead by the Electoral College. Nine states have more than 50 percent of the U.S. population. If a simple majority were the rule, conceivably these nine states could determine the presidency. Fortunately, they can’t because they have only 225 Electoral College votes when 270 of the 538 total are needed. Were it not for the Electoral College, presidential candidates could safely ignore less populous

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