As Lord Acton points out “The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority.”
The United States is a democracy, where the majority rules and where the minority isn’t important. The founders prevented the dangers of the so called Tyranny of Majority by establishing a republic that was more lasting for the majority and minority. A republic basically doesn’t pick our president through a direct majority vote, instead we have an Electoral College that is when the president is voted indirectly. The perpetual threat, democracy seeks minority rules, and the Electoral College of the majority rule.
The founders were worried that the majority might abuse their powers to the minority. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were the people that warned them about the Tyranny. The Tyranny of majority in history has gone to even killing the minority. One of the phrases they always use is “Two wolves and a sheep vote on what to eat for dinner.” One perpetual threat in history was slavery. White people were free and they were the majority and they used their power to keep slavery from being abolish and the minority were the ones who did want to stop slavery.
The minority rights have to be protected even if it’s divided from the majority society because if not it loses its power. Liberty and rights of individuals are protected by the Bill of Rights. What makes it difficult for majorities to achieve absolute power is that the protection of the minority is the constancy of elections and the principles of the separation of powers and checks and balances.
Some have said that the Electoral College is one of the most dangerous foundations in politics. The Electoral College votes are not distributed according to population. John Adams warned in a letter, “Remember Democracy never last long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murder itself. There was never a Democracy yet, that did not commit suicide.” In our constitution, the founders placed a barrier to that tyranny.
The perpetual threat, democracy seeks minority rules, and the Electoral College of the majority rule. The greatest threat that the United States is facing is the Tyranny of the majority.
