Majoritarianism

Majoritarianism is the advocacy of the idea that the majority of the population should have the final say in determining the outcome of public policy (e.g., there is a movement aimed at making the English language not only the national language of the United States but the only language used in public). There are, of course, various ways of “slicing up” the population that would give different identities to the majority.

Majoritarianism must be distinguished from majority rule. In a political system that operates through majority rule, the ultimate power on matters of public policy resides with the vote cast by more than half of those eligible to vote. The majority of those eligible to vote is not identical with the majority of residents in a ...