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> Rights only need to be protected if the majority wants. And the majority can decide what is and isn't considered a right. Then you no longer have a democracy
by matwood 1y ago
> Rights only need to be protected if the majority wants. And the majority can decide what is and isn't considered a right.
Then you no longer have a democracy.
- charcircuit 1y agoWhy? Rights are orthogonal to something being a democracy. A society could decide to have no human rights yet still make decisions democratically.
- matwood 1y agoIf minority rights are not maintained, then the first majority to win will change the rules/system so that the minority can never become the majority. In the extreme example, the 51% votes to eliminate the 49%. For a democracy to function minority rights and checks on the majority power are fundamental requirements. Originally from the Dept. of State: https://www.principlesofdemocracy.org/majority https://www.principlesofdemocracy.org/majority
- charcircuit 1y ago>so that the minority can never become the majority So you are trying to say that a democracy that is unable to find a global maxima is not a functional democracy? I would disagree and say that a democracy moving towards a local maxima is still functional.