Tyranny of the majority
The essential problem of government
What is how do you give the govt enough power to govern us without giving it enough power to oppress us?
Diffuse interest
What is there are a lot of people but they only have a mild opinion on that same issue but on the other side of the debate?
What are consensus, majority, authority?
Initiative
What is something that starts with the people?
Concentrated losers keep fighting
What is because what they lack in size they can make up for in ferocity of campaigning for their issue?
Concentrated interest
What is there are only a few people but they feel very strongly about the issue?
How democracy solves tyranny of the majority (theoretically)
What is the idea that if politicians owe their offices to the people's approval, they'll have to govern in the people's interests?
The founders' theory about how gridlock protects minority rights
What is if the government can make laws, it can't make laws to oppress the people?
demos
What is people in Greek?
Tradeoff in politics
What is there is a spectrum of likelihood for tyranny of the majority and efficiency in govt and the more the tyranny of the majority prevented, the less efficiency in govt and vice versa?
Federalism
What helps with tyranny of the majority by, for one, splitting society up into different groups so that the minority is a majority in some of them?
Problem with "satisfied" minority
What is is anyone really happy with the compromise?
One function of political parties
What is they serve as information shortcuts, making it easier to know what the candidates believe?
What is where the government initiates something but then puts it to the people to vote?
Ways to make it harder to have tyranny of the majority
What is checks and balances, federalism, laws needing approval from 2 legislative houses, voting systems encouraging the formation of multiple political parties, institutions that force parties to form large, inclusive coalitions, include requirements of 2/3 supermajority to pass laws, esp fundamental ones such as amending constitution or changing parliamentary procedures, the filibuster (3/5 decision threshold), threshold of unanimity, separation of powers?
Result of tyranny of the majority
What is you have a substantial minority who doesn't get what they want so they protest or sue or riot or even revolt?
Politics as described by political scientists
What is it is a sliding spectrum rather than an either/or?
Politicians are experts
What is our reps should theoretically have the time to research the q thoroughly and thus they are more qualified to be the ones on government?
kratos
Tyranny of the majority
What is a situation where a majority of the people is able to prevent the minority from having any influence whatsoever in a decision over a public good?
Consensus
What is everyone agrees and so they only get a little of what they all each want?
Decision threshold
What is what it takes for a measure to pass, a person to be elected, a decision to be made, etc., where there is in the order of easiest to hardest to make a decision there is a plurality, a majority is just a simple majority (e.g. of everyone there), absolute majority is a majority of all the eligible people even those who sit out, supermajority (3/5ths, 2/3rds, any bar between majority and unanimity), finally unanimity; and there is also weighted majority, where some votes are worth more than others, and concurrent majority, were you need majorities in multiple institutions?
3 essential characteristics of modern democracy
What are competition (between parties and between the branches of government), participation (voting, protests, rioting, donating $, being in an interest group), and "liberal rights" (free speech, freedom of the press, etc.)?
Illiberal democracy
What is a democracy where someone gets elected democratically, perhaps even re-elected, but enacts policies that violates the rights generally associated with democracy (e.g. freedom of the press, freedom of worship, freedom of speech, freedom to protest, equal treatment under the law)?