I'd think that ultimately, the idea of democracy is indeed that the majority gets to set the rules for punishment. But I'll freely admit that this ideal isn't

I'd think that ultimately, the idea of democracy is indeed that the majority gets to set the rules for punishment. But I'll freely admit that this ideal isn't true in practice, where we see elements of a wisdom-of-the-elders system of justice mixed in, because we don't fully trust the majority to understand that democracy isn't two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.