ترجمۀ سیاسی – متن ۳

ترجمۀ سیاسی – متن ۳

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Majority Rule

Democracy is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as:

“Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them either directly or through their elected agents”.

What is left out of the dictionary definition of democracy is what constitutes “the people.” In practice, democracy is governed by its most popularly understood principle: majority rule. Namely, the side with the most votes wins, whether it is an election, a legislative bill, or a contract proposal to a union. The majority vote decides. Thus, when it is said that “the people have spoken” or the “people’s will should be respected,” the people are generally expressed through its majority.

Democracy Requires Minority Rights

Yet majority rule cannot be the only expression of “supreme power” in a democracy. If so, the majority would easily tyrannize the minority. Thus, while it is clear that democracy must guarantee the expression of the popular will through majority rule, it is equally clear that it must guarantee that the majority will not abuse its power to violate the basic and inalienable rights of the minority. For example, a defining characteristic of democracy must be the people’s right to change the majority through elections. The minority, therefore, must have the right to seek to become the majority and possess all the rights necessary to compete fairly in elections — speech, assembly, association, petition — since otherwise the majority would make itself permanent and become a dictatorship.