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Full Idea
Most of us can accept losing from time to time, but sometimes an entrenched majority will win vote after vote, leaving the minority group permanently outvoted and ignored.
Gist of Idea
Occasional defeat is acceptable, but a minority that is continually defeated is a problem
Source
Jonathan Wolff (An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Rev) [2006], 3 'Protecting')
Book Ref
Wolff,Jonathan: 'An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Rev)' [OUP 2006], p.100
A Reaction
This is the key problem of the treatment of minorities in a democracy. Personally I have only once been on the winning side in voting for my MP, and he changed party a couple of years later.
| 22549 | In many cases, the claim that the majority is superior would apply equally to wild beasts [Aristotle] |
| 7238 | Minorities only accept majority-voting because of a prior unanimous agreement [Rousseau] |
| 23530 | The great danger of democracy is that the oppression of the minority becomes unobjectionable [Hart,HLA] |
| 20287 | If 49% of the population can be wrong, so can 51% [Singer] |
| 23253 | Majority decisions are only acceptable if the minority interests are not vital [Grayling] |
| 20509 | Occasional defeat is acceptable, but a minority that is continually defeated is a problem [Wolff,J] |