[governance] tyranny of majority (was Re: Debunking eight myths about multi-stakeholderism)

[Seth Johnson]

(Well, parts of it  :-)  )

On Fri, May 1, 2015 at 7:59 PM, Seth Johnson <seth.p.johnson at gmail.com> wrote:
> That's far closer.
>
> On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 9:38 AM, Tarakiyee <tarakiyee at apc.org> wrote:
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>> I would agree that majority rule is no more essential to democracy
>> than any other elements of democracy. Majority rule without democracy
>> is simply mob rule.
>>
>> I think any democratic governance system that's coercive can succumb
>> to mob rule or even to a well organised and well resourced minority.
>> Limits on majority rule often fail in practice due to impunity and
>> collective inaction.
>>
>> Specifically in the context of MS, it's important to recognise that
>> multi-stakeholder processes are not all equal, an MS process with a
>> democratic outlook would encourage deliberation, transparency and
>> inclusion, all essential elements to mitigate tyranny, either by a
>> minority or a majority.
>>
>> Best,
>> Tarakiyee
>>
>> On 29/04/15 12:36, Norbert Bollow wrote:
>>> On Wed, 29 Apr 2015 11:15:35 +0200 Jean-Christophe Nothias
>>> <jeanchristophe.nothias at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> This tyranny of majority is an intriguing item.
>>>
>>> In governance systems which have majority voting but not the other
>>> essential elements of the modern understanding of democracy, it
>>> will sometimes happen that tyrannical, i.e. human rights violating,
>>> decision proposals are supported by a majority of votes, and
>>> therefore considered adopted. A famous example was the
>>> state-sanctioned murder of Socrates in ancient Athens.
>>>
>>> In democratic governance systems of course in such a situation
>>> there is the possibility to get the outcome of the vote overturned
>>> by a court decision on the basis that it is a human rights
>>> violation.
>>>
>>> In democratic governance systems therefore tyranny of majority does
>>> not occur.
>>>
>>> Greetings, Norbert
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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