majority rules
Most votes win
Majority rules is the principle that decisions are made by whatever option receives more than half the votes.
The phrase often appears as an assertion ending debate: We voted, and majority rules.
It can justify overriding minority preferences or, critically, highlight the limits of democratic process when individual rights are at stake.
- pluralityLargest share among several
- popular voteTotal of citizen votes
- first past the postHighest vote count wins
- voteFormal choice expression
- show of handsVoting by lifting arms
election · democracy · ballot · majoritarianism · polling · deliberation · referendum · governance · winner-take-all · threshold · swing vote · electorates · groupthink · utilitarianism · representation · suffrage · percentage · accountability
majority rulesunanimous consent
Complete agreement by all
unanimity · consensus · supermajority · veto power · two-thirds majority
majority rulesautocracy
Rule by one
dictatorship · oligarchy · tyranny · absolute monarchy · one-man rule
majority rulesminority rights
Safeguards for underrepresented populations
minority protections · individual rights · judicial review · protected classes · Bill of Rights
majority, rules, major, rule, majorities, ruled, ruling, ruler, rulers