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Message: 20th Principle--Constitut... provisions must be made to protect the rights
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20th
Principle
Efficiency and dispatch require government to
operate according to the will of the majority,
but constitutional provisions must be made
to protect the rights of the minority.
Principle
Efficiency and dispatch require government to
operate according to the will of the majority,
but constitutional provisions must be made
to protect the rights of the minority.
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One of the most serious mistakes in the structure of the
Articles of Confederation was the requirement that no
changes could be made without the approval of every one of
the states. During the Revolutionary War several vital
changes were suggested, but in each instance a single state
was able to prevent the needed change from being adopted.
Articles of Confederation was the requirement that no
changes could be made without the approval of every one of
the states. During the Revolutionary War several vital
changes were suggested, but in each instance a single state
was able to prevent the needed change from being adopted.
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Basis for the "Majority" Rule
Basis for the "Majority" Rule
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Delaying action until it had the unanimous approval of
all concerned can be disastrous in a time of emergency. It
even inhibits healthy progress in normal times. Unanimity is
the ideal, but majority rule becomes a necessity. The theory
of majority rule was explained by John Locke as follows:
"When any number of men have ... consented to make
one community or government, they are thereby presently
incorporated, and make one body politic, wherein the
majority have a right to act and conclude [bind] the rest....
"It being one body ... it is necessary the body should
move that way whither the greater force carries it, which
is the consent of majority, or else it is impossible it
should act or continue one body....
"And thus every man, by consenting with others to
make one body politic under one government, puts
himself under an obligation to every one of that society
to submit to the determination of the majority, and to be
concluded [bound] by it." (John Locke, Second Essay
Concerning Civil Government, pp. 46-47, par. 95-97.)
Delaying action until it had the unanimous approval of
all concerned can be disastrous in a time of emergency. It
even inhibits healthy progress in normal times. Unanimity is
the ideal, but majority rule becomes a necessity. The theory
of majority rule was explained by John Locke as follows:
"When any number of men have ... consented to make
one community or government, they are thereby presently
incorporated, and make one body politic, wherein the
majority have a right to act and conclude [bind] the rest....
"It being one body ... it is necessary the body should
move that way whither the greater force carries it, which
is the consent of majority, or else it is impossible it
should act or continue one body....
"And thus every man, by consenting with others to
make one body politic under one government, puts
himself under an obligation to every one of that society
to submit to the determination of the majority, and to be
concluded [bound] by it." (John Locke, Second Essay
Concerning Civil Government, pp. 46-47, par. 95-97.)
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Problem of Securing "Unanimous Consent"
John Locke then dealt with the problem of having to
wait on unanimous decision before any action can be taken.
He stated:
"For if the consent of the majority shall not in
reason be received as the act of the whole ... nothing but
the consent of every individual can make anything to be
the act of the whole, which, considering the infirmities of
health and avocations of business which ... will
necessarily keep many away from the public assembly;
and the variety of opinions and contrariety of interests
which unavoidably happen in all collections of men, it is
next [to] impossible ever to be had." (Ibid., p. 47, par.
98.)
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Majority Rule a Necessity
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It has sometimes been argued that a bare majority of
one person scarcely justifies the making of a final decision for
the whole body. It has been argued that it would be better to
have a substantial majority of perhaps two-thirds or threefourths.
In the Constitution a provision of this type was
incorporated in the text for the purpose of initiating
amendments. A two-thirds majority is also required for the
purpose of overriding a Presidential veto. Nevertheless, this
requirement was considered dangerous when applied to the
routine business of the Congress. Alexander Hamilton
explained it as follows:
It has sometimes been argued that a bare majority of
one person scarcely justifies the making of a final decision for
the whole body. It has been argued that it would be better to
have a substantial majority of perhaps two-thirds or threefourths.
In the Constitution a provision of this type was
incorporated in the text for the purpose of initiating
amendments. A two-thirds majority is also required for the
purpose of overriding a Presidential veto. Nevertheless, this
requirement was considered dangerous when applied to the
routine business of the Congress. Alexander Hamilton
explained it as follows:
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"To give a minority a negative upon the majority
(which is always the case where more than a majority is
requisite to a decision) is, in its tendency, to subject the
sense of the greater number to that of the lesser
number.... The necessity of unanimity in public bodies,
or something approaching towards it, has been founded
upon a supposition that it would contribute to security.
But its real operation is to embarrass the
administration, to destroy the energy of the government,
and to substitute the pleasure, caprice, or artifices of an
insignificant, turbulent, or corrupt unto to the regular
deliberations and decisions of a respectable majority....
"The public business must in some way or other go
forward. If a pertinacious minority can control the
opinion of a majority, respecting the best mode of
conducting it, the majority in order that something may
be done must conform to the views of the minority; and
thus the sense of the smaller number will overrule that
of the greater and give a tone to the national
proceedings. Hence, tedious delays; continual
negotiation and intrigue; contemptible compromises of
the public good." (The Federalist Papers, No. 22, pp.
147-48.)
"To give a minority a negative upon the majority
(which is always the case where more than a majority is
requisite to a decision) is, in its tendency, to subject the
sense of the greater number to that of the lesser
number.... The necessity of unanimity in public bodies,
or something approaching towards it, has been founded
upon a supposition that it would contribute to security.
But its real operation is to embarrass the
administration, to destroy the energy of the government,
and to substitute the pleasure, caprice, or artifices of an
insignificant, turbulent, or corrupt unto to the regular
deliberations and decisions of a respectable majority....
"The public business must in some way or other go
forward. If a pertinacious minority can control the
opinion of a majority, respecting the best mode of
conducting it, the majority in order that something may
be done must conform to the views of the minority; and
thus the sense of the smaller number will overrule that
of the greater and give a tone to the national
proceedings. Hence, tedious delays; continual
negotiation and intrigue; contemptible compromises of
the public good." (The Federalist Papers, No. 22, pp.
147-48.)
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Minorities Have Equal Rights
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Nevertheless, the American Founders had suffered
enough from the tyrannical conduct of Parliament to feel
highly sensitive to the rights of minorities. Thomas Jefferson
referred to this in his first inaugural address on March 4,
1801, when he said:
"All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle,
that though the will of the majority is in all cases to
prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that
the minority possess their equal rights, which equal
laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression."
(Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 3:318.)
We have already treated the problems faced by
minorities. It is important for us to remember that every
ethnic group in the United States was once a minority. We
are literally a nation of minorities. However, it is the
newcomers who feel they are not yet first-class citizens.
It is the responsibility of the minorities themselves to
learn the language, seek needed education, become self
sustaining, and make themselves recognized as a genuine
asset to the community. Meanwhile, those who are already
well established can help. The United States has built a
reputation of being more generous and helpful to newcomers
than any other nation. It is a reputation worth preserving.
Once upon a time, we were all minorities.
Nevertheless, the American Founders had suffered
enough from the tyrannical conduct of Parliament to feel
highly sensitive to the rights of minorities. Thomas Jefferson
referred to this in his first inaugural address on March 4,
1801, when he said:
"All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle,
that though the will of the majority is in all cases to
prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that
the minority possess their equal rights, which equal
laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression."
(Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 3:318.)
We have already treated the problems faced by
minorities. It is important for us to remember that every
ethnic group in the United States was once a minority. We
are literally a nation of minorities. However, it is the
newcomers who feel they are not yet first-class citizens.
It is the responsibility of the minorities themselves to
learn the language, seek needed education, become self
sustaining, and make themselves recognized as a genuine
asset to the community. Meanwhile, those who are already
well established can help. The United States has built a
reputation of being more generous and helpful to newcomers
than any other nation. It is a reputation worth preserving.
Once upon a time, we were all minorities.
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