Majority Rule
Majority rule is a statistical method of accepting assertions and proposals. In democratic systems, majority rule is used to determine group decisions, particularly those relating to personal morality and social behavior. Some systems divided into several oppositional factions may depend on mere plurality. While majority rule may make for a good democratic system, it is a poor determinant of truth, subject to the criticisms of the broad version of consensus gentium.
Read more about this topic: Criteria Of Truth
Famous quotes containing the words majority rule, majority and/or rule:
“The principle of majority rule is the mildest form in which the force of numbers can be exercised. It is a pacific substitute for civil war in which the opposing armies are counted and the victory is awarded to the larger before any blood is shed. Except in the sacred tests of democracy and in the incantations of the orators, we hardly take the trouble to pretend that the rule of the majority is not at bottom a rule of force.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
“There’s a certain part of the contented majority who love anybody who is worth a billion dollars.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)
“Some rule out of a lust for ruling; others, so as not to be ruled:Mto these it is merely the lesser of two evils.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)