who said the tyranny of the majority

Did John Adams say tyranny of the majority?

While the specific phrase "tyranny of the majority" is frequently attributed to various Founding Fathers, only John Adams is known to have used it, arguing against government by a single unicameral elected body.

Who coined the term tyranny of the majority?

While James Madison referred to the same idea as "the violence of majority faction" in The Federalist Papers, for example Federalist 10, the phrase "tyranny of the majority" was used by John Adams in 1788. It was also used by Edmund Burke in Reflections on the Revolution in France...

What is tyranny according to the Federalist Papers?

Tyranny meant rule by one man whether undesirable or not. While James Madison referred to the same idea as "the violence of majority faction" in The Federalist Papers, for example Federalist 10, the phrase "tyranny of the majority" was used by John Adams in 1788.

Who said the tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny?

Later users include Edmund Burke, who wrote in a 1790 letter that "The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny." It was further popularised by John Stuart Mill, influenced by Tocqueville, in On Liberty (1859). Friedrich Nietzsche used the phrase in the first sequel to Human, All Too Human (1879).

What is Alexis de Tocqueville most famous for?

Alexis de Tocqueville is best known for Democracy in America, which he wrote after spending 10 months of 1831 and 1832 in the United States on a mission from France to study American prisons (then considered progressive).

Who wrote against the tyranny of majority?

Alexis de Tocqueville, oil on canvas. Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville is universally regarded as one of the most influential books ever written about America.

What is meant by the tyranny of the majority?

: a situation in which a group of people are treated unfairly because their situation is different from the situation of most of the people in a democratic country.

What is the tyranny of the majority according to Mill?

Second, there is a risk of a "tyranny of the majority" in which the many oppress the few who, according to democratic ideals, have just as much a right to pursue their legitimate ends. In Mill's view, tyranny of the majority is worse than tyranny of government because it is not limited to a political function.

How does the Constitution stop tyranny?

The three main ways that the Constitution protects against tyranny are Federalism, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances. The Checks and Balances is included in the Constitution to protect the United States from tyranny.

What did Alexis de Tocqueville believe?

As “Democracy in America” revealed, Tocqueville believed that equality was the great political and social idea of his era, and he thought that the United States offered the most advanced example of equality in action.

What could the tyranny of the majority result in?

Hence, the correct answer here is that tyranny of the majority can result in both discrimination and coercion.

What is an example of a tyranny?

The definition of tyranny is a government or ruler with total power. An example of tyranny is a country run by a cruel dictator. A tyrannical act. Refused to submit to her husband's tyrannies.

What is the problem of the tyranny of the majority quizlet?

For James Madison, the problem associated with a tyranny of the majority was that: large factions might capture control of the government and ignore the rights of those in the minority.

What were John Stuart Mill's beliefs?

He believed that a “desire of perfection” and sympathy for fellow human beings belong to human nature. One of the central tenets of Mill's political outlook is that, not only the rules of society, but also people themselves are capable of improvement.

What is Mill's harm principle?

Mill wrote what is known as the 'harm principle' as an expression of the idea that the right to self-determination is not unlimited. An action which results in doing harm to another is not only wrong, but wrong enough that the state can intervene to prevent that harm from occurring.

Which is the famous tent written by Mills?

Mill's On Liberty (1859) addresses the nature and limits of the power that can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual.

Why did Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America?

It was first and foremost for such people that Tocqueville wrote the book. He hoped that by showing them in detail what democracy was they would be able better to guide France's own transition to democracy. In so doing, however, he gave the world its richest, most various, and deepest reflection on democracy.

What was the purpose of Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America?

Tocqueville's main purpose in writing Democracy in America was to analyze the functioning of political society and the various forms of political associations, although he also had some reflections on civil society as well as the relations between political and civil society.

What is tyranny of the majority ap gov?

Tyranny of the Majority. The potential of a majority to monopolize power for its own gain to the detriment of minority rights and interests. Democracy.

Why did Alexis de Tocqueville believe that American society was egalitarian?

Why did Alexis de Tocqueville believe that American society was egalitarian? All Americans had the same wealth. Americans lacked a hereditary social class of nobles. Americans had just abolished slavery just before his visit.

What does Tocqueville mean by "the majority will always act tyrannically"?

Tocqueville does not mean that the majority in a democracy will always act tyrannically, only that nothing can prevent it from so doing. He further argues that tendency to acquiesce in the rightness of majority opinion has negative long-term consequences on national character and culture.

What is the majority in Europe?

In Europe, with its complex hierarchical societies, the majority has little or no power. It is rather the aristocracy, the clergy, the legal profession, and the rising merchant class—the independent centers of powers—that will resist and even oppose the sovereign. Some of these groups do exist in democracies, but they have little or no independent legitimacy.

What is the power of the democratic majority?

The power of the democratic majority arises from the fact that every individual is assumed to be competent to guide his own life and is politically the equal of every other individual. In this situation, the greatest legitimate power will always be with the majority.

What is Tocqueville's most shocking claim?

In the third lesson, students confront and evaluate Tocqueville’s most shocking claim—that there is less freedom of discussion and independence of mind in America than in Europe, with negative consequences for American character and culture.

Do aristocracies have independent legitimacy?

Some of these groups do exist in democracies, but they have little or no independent legitimacy. According to Tocqueville, these “intermediary” institutions that exist in aristocracies serve as a “dike” against the force of dominant political power and a vital protection for human dignity and liberty.

Who was the French aristocrat who visited America?

A French aristocrat visits Jacksonian America. In 1831, an ambitious and unusually perceptive twenty-five-year-old French aristocrat, Alexis de Tocqueville, visited the United States. His nine-month sojourn led to the writing of Democracy in America, universally regarded as one of the most influential books ever written.

Why did Tocqueville write Democracy?

The current popularity of Democracy in America in the United States might have surprised Tocqueville himself, because he wrote the book primarily for a French audience. The first volume was published forty-six years after the French Revolution. That great upheaval had destroyed the “ancient regime” — the political order comprised of divine right monarchs, hereditary aristocrats, and peasants — but France had still not found political stability. As Tocqueville points out in the Introduction, many leading Frenchmen were unwilling to accept that equality had come to stay: looking to the past with regret some foolishly ignored the fundamental changes taking place around them; others found themselves caught in various unnatural and unhealthy moral and political confusions. It was first and foremost for such people that Tocqueville wrote the book. He hoped that by showing them in detail what democracy was they would be able better to guide France’s own transition to democracy. In so doing, however, he gave the world its richest, most various, and deepest reflection on democracy. But why was Tocqueville so certain that democracy was inevitable and irresistible? His argument for this opinion is the main theme of this book’s introduction.

What was the greatest danger Tocqueville saw?

The greatest danger Tocqueville saw was that public opinion would become an all-powerful force, and that the majority could tyrannize unpopular minorities and marginal individuals. In Volume 1, Part 2, Chapter 7, “ Of the Omnipotence of the Majority in the United States and Its Effects ,” he lays out his argument with a variety of well-chosen constitutional, historical, and sociological examples.

What is the book Tocqueville wrote about?

Unlike most of the others, however, the book Tocqueville wrote has proved over the years to be a lasting source of information and insight into both America and democracy. Democracy in America is now widely studied in America universities, and it has been quoted by Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, and Congressmen.

What is the most important book about democracy?

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville is universally regarded as one of the most influential books ever written about America. While historians have viewed Democracy as a rich source about the age of Andrew Jackson, Tocqueville was more of a political thinker than a historian. In the introduction to Democracy, he states: “In America, I saw more than America… I sought the image of democracy itself, with its inclinations, its character, its prejudices, and its passions.” His subject is nothing less than what is to be hoped for, and what to be feared from, the democratic revolution sweeping the Western world in his time.

What does Tocqueville say about France?

Tocqueville then shifts his attention to France (and more generally, to Europe) and announces that “a great democratic revolution is taking place among us.”. The problem is that there is an important division of opinion in France about what this revolution means.

What is the book Democracy in America about?

Volume One describes and analyzes American conditions and political institutions, while Volume Two examines the effect of American democracy on what we would call culture (literature, economics, the family, religion, etc.). The reason for Tocqueville’s interest in these themes is explained in a general Introduction to the whole work. There we learn that although Tocqueville was an aristocrat, he believed that the world was undergoing a “great democratic revolution,” that it is inevitably and irreversibly becoming more and more democratic. And this belief is what motivated his deep interest in America, for his visit convinced him that America had achieved in a peaceful and natural way almost complete “equality of conditions.” By understanding America, he thought that we could not only understand what democracy means, but in a way even glimpse the world’s future. “I confess,” he wrote, “that in America I saw more than America; I sought the image of democracy itself, with its inclinations, its character, its prejudices, and its passions, in order to learn what we have to fear or hope from its progress.” This feature examines Tocqueville’s argument that the “great democratic revolution” is inevitable and irresistible.

What is the power of the majority?

According to Tocqueville, the power of the majority arises from the fact that in a democracy every individual is , politically, the equal of every other individual. In this situation, the greatest power will always be the largest number of individuals who combine their strength to act together: normally, a majority.

Why won't democracy cut it?

Which is why a democracy won’t cut it. As the saying goes, a democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner. The Founders were determined to forestall the inherent dangers of what James Madison called “ the tyranny of the majority.”. So they constructed something more lasting: a republic.

Why is the electoral college important?

“The Electoral College is a very carefully considered structure the Framers of the Constitution set up to balance the competing interests of large and small states ,” writes Hans von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Election Commission.

How many votes do you need to win the election?

Most people who watch the election returns know that a candidate must secure 270 electoral votes to win. That’s because there are 538 votes altogether. As the website for the National Archives notes, “Your state’s entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators.”

What would happen if the Electoral College did not exist?

They could simply campaign in a small handful of states with big populations. Who would care what the people in Iowa think? Or Wyoming? Or any number of other states with smaller populations?

Which states have been sued for the winner take all system?

The latest attack comes via new lawsuits filed in federal courts in four states (Massachusetts, California, South Carolina and Texas). “Under the winner-take-all system, U.S. citizens have been denied their constitutional right to an equal vote in presidential elections,” said David Boies, an attorney who represented former Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 election.

Which branch of government has a bicameral structure?

That led, most notably, to the bicameral structure of our legislative branch. We have a House of Representatives, where the number of members is greater for more populous states (which obviously favors those states), and the Senate, where every state from Rhode Island and Alaska to California and New York have exactly two representatives (which keeps less-populated states from being steamrolled).

Is the United States a democracy?

People often refer to the United States as a democracy, but technically speaking, that’s not true. It’s a republic. The Founders were determined to forestall the inherent dangers of what James Madison called “the tyranny of the majority.”.

When the will of a majority population group exclusively prevails in a system of government, it results in the answer?

When the will of a majority population group exclusively prevails in a system of government, it results in the potential for tyranny over minority groups.

What does "tyranny of the majority" mean?

What Does Tyranny of the Majority Mean? Tyranny of the majority (or tyranny of the masses) is a situation that can result from a system of majority rule, wherein the majority group places its own interests above the interests of a minority group without consideration for the welfare or rights of the minority. ...

What type of government did the Greeks call a tyranny of the majority?

The Greeks called this type of government an ochlocracy, defined as government by mob rule, and they considered it one of the three unsuitable forms of government along with oligarchy and tyranny.

Why did the Framers of the Constitution create checks and balances?

To limit the possibility of a tyranny of the majority in the United States, the framers of the Constitution established a government with checks and balances designed, they claimed, to prevent any one part of the government from becoming too powerful. Additionally, they made it more difficult for Congress to easily ignore the needs of minority groups by requiring the support of a supermajority for major decisions. They also added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution to protect various individual rights of those in minority groups.

Why did the Bill of Rights add to the Constitution?

They also added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution to protect various individual rights of those in minority groups.

Who recognized the danger of a potential tyranny of the majority and took action to prevent it from happening?

In the early years of the United States, John Adams and James Madison both recognized the danger of a potential tyranny of the majority and took action to prevent it from happening.

What is the evil of democracy?

The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections. Votes: 4

What is the aim of a constitutional democracy?

Of course, the aim of a constitutional democracy is to safeguard the rights of the minority and avoid the tyranny of the majority. (p. 102) Votes: 4

Why are business men not capable of original thought?

The majority of business men are not capable of an original thought, simply because they cannot escape the tyranny of reason. Votes: 0

What is the most sacred business of judges?

the most sacred business of judges is not to ratify the will of the majority but to protect the minority from its tyranny. Votes: 0

Is the tyranny of majorities as bad as the tyranny of kings?

The tyranny of majorities may be as bad as the tyranny of kings. Votes: 4

Is democracy a tyranny?

Democracy is nothing but the Tyranny of Majorities, the most abominable tyranny of all, for it is not based on the authority of a religion, not upon the nobility of a race, not on the merits of talents and of riches. It merely rests upon numbers and hides behind the name of the people. Votes: 4

Does the restriction of religion to private life threaten the vital interests of the majority religion?

The restriction of religion to private life therefore does not necessarily threaten the vital interests of the majority religion, if there is one, and it protects minority religions from tyranny of the majority. Votes: 4