If not “spot on,” it’s “tyranny of the majority” is pretty close.
“Now hold on Seagull, isn’t the United States a ‘democracy?’” “Not yet, but it is fast becoming one in many states, including Missouri.” “But that’s not a bad thing. Didn’t the founding Fathers establish the United States as a democracy?” “Absolutely not!!
The word “democracy” does not appear in the Constitution or Bill of Rights, and for good reason. These documents clearly establish the United States as a republic with its representative government, separation of powers, and protections for individual rights, with intentional mechanisms to prevent the “majority tyranny” that a pure democracy represents.
Democracy is often defined as the rule of the majority. In a pure democracy, this means that the decisions made by more than half of the people govern all. The impact of that is more evident in some cases than others.
Let’s take an obvious example. In recent years, we have all seen examples of mobs of people rioting and looting stores. The majority, the mob, the tyranny of the majority, wants to loot, steal, or destroy. The minority, the property owners whose property they are looting, stealing, or destroying, would much rather that didn’t happen, but it did.
Here’s a more subtle and, from a public awareness aspect, less obvious impact. Missouri has 114 counties, but 60% of its population, or 3,737,836 out of a total population of 6,196,156, resides in only 10 or 9% of those counties. The Big Ten counties, with a total population of 3,73,836, control the statewide actions for the other 104 counties, with a total population of 3,769,267.
One example of how that impacts the minority in the state is when votes are held to change the Missouri Constitution. The majority, 50% plus one, wins. First shot out of the bag, it is obvious that the Big Ten has the advantage and is in the best position to control the outcome. The constitutional amendment for river boat gambling is a prime example. Only 13 counties out of 114 approved it, but the votes of the Big Ten made it happen.
In Ole Seagull’s opinion, the Founding Fathers were well-versed in political philosophy and history and acutely aware of the potential pitfalls of direct democracy. Their goal was to create a form of government that would protect individual liberties while preventing the tyranny of the majority that can occur in pure democracies.
(In most states, including Missouri, the more populated cities form a “tyranny of the majority,” virtually controlling what happens throughout the state. Please see the article elsewhere in this edition with Representative Brain Seitz discussing this issue and what is being done to address it in Missouri.)
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