Majority rule

It is widely believed that democracy is rule by the majority. Not true: oppression of any minority is not democracy.

Neither is oppression of the majority, of course.

Consider, indeed just how our democratic majority rule works in practice.

Turnout at elections never approached 100%.  Sometimes it is 20%. But let us assume that 60% is a reasonable expectation for a national General Election.

The current electoral system ("First Past The Post") does not require the winning candidate to obtain a majority of votes cast. And support for big parties is thereby amplified, and support for small parties attenuated, in the overall number of seats won. A 40% share of the vote is usually enough to give a party a "landslide" victory.

Consider a plausible, if oversimplified, scenario. Party A gets 40% of the votes and 60% of the seats; Party B gets 35% of the votes and 40% of the seats; other parties get 25% of the votes between them but no seats. So Party A, with a large majority in parliament, has what it would call a "clear mandate" to impose its will on the country, having received the explicit support of 24% of the electorate.

It gets worse.

Consider a motion before the House. MPs are expected to vote on party lines, sometimes on issues which have never been discussed and agreed within the party, and sometimes even just because the party leader has decided what the policy should be. But let us be unrealistic and consider the possibility that members of each party have discussed the issue and voted on it. In Party A 60% are in favour and 40% against, a clear majority, and, to maintain party unity, all Party A MPs will consequently vote in favour. In Party B 10% are in favour and 90% against, a very clear majority, and, to maintain party unity, all Party B MPs will consequently vote against. The motion thus carries with a clear 60% majority, despite the fact that 60% of MPs individually are opposed to it.

And despite the fact that the 40% of MPs in favour of the motion were elected by the votes of perhaps 9.6% of the electorate.

Majority rule? Democracy?

WJW/(before)30Sep18