The Tyranny Of Majority - Essay Example

Term Paper, Political Science 30 October In What Ways Is The Fear Of The Tyranny Of Majority Expressed? Introduction This paper discusses the tyranny of majority, where the majority make the laws to enrich and strengthen themselves and oppress the weak and power. In the past and present society, the rich have formed groups in the Government, hospitals and schools, and use these avenues to empower themselves. Madison states that tyranny of majority is demonstrated when the elected leaders use law, supported by a majority that harasses the minority (Bookman 74). In the case of France, it had been divided into small households, which owned the soil and there were the heads of inhabitants. The inheritance was from generation to generation, people used force and property was their source of power. The church was however involved and was divided into classes of the poor and the rich, the laborers and nobility. The act of equality was introduced into the Government by the church (Tocqueville, gutenberg.org). The rich would enrich themselves by trade; they used money to control the state. This trade opened doors to power. Tyranny of the absolute monarchy in Europe is unable to stop ideas, which may oppose to their government. In America, tyranny of the majority doesn’t decide, as its will always goes through. There is no complete monarchy which can combine all powers and conquer the opposition with the use of majority. The majority is obliged to invest in the making and executing laws. In the monarch, the king is entirely physical; he takes charge of his subjects without using his personnel will. But the majority people have power both physically and morally. The majority act on the will and actions of the men. In America, there was division of people from the east of Hudson, south-west of the river. The people that settled in the south-west were great proprietors that had associated with the wealthy. In the south, slaves inhabited the place and they worked in the rich lands of the wealthy (Tocqueville, gutenberg.org). In Europe, the slaves had no rights and they could only cultivate the lands, as slaves and had no tenants relying on them. Nevertheless, the rich in the south of Hudson continued enriching themselves and establishing a political class. This group headed the revolution in the South, which brought about the leaders of the American Revolution. When it came to inheritance, it was from generation to generation. The inheritance could be divided even after the second generation. The children could enjoy their parents’ wealth. Lawyers are described as an aristocratic element and some parties in democracy have aristocratic passions at the bottom of their souls. Religion, rights, local liberty, juries, justices of the peace, and the Constitution are all variously described as inheritances from aristocracy (Tocqueville, gutenberg.org). For Tocqueville, townships were an important check and against integrating the power in state government, which he considered too distant from the concerns of individual citizens and which had no business interfering with the affairs that were genuinely local in nature. By assigning power into the hands of decentralized administrators like nobles and the rich or in the New England terminology, the good men, the likelihood to abuse government power, according to Tocqueville, is greatly reduced (gutenberg.org). The presence of a democratic Government consists of pure supremacy of the majority. In democratic states, there is no resistance from the control of majority. The American constitution has opted to increase the strength of the majority by illegal means. The legislature is an institution of politicians that are easily corrupted by the majority. Governing the society with the majority uses superior intelligence like what was used in the United States by the first inhabitants; this was used to get a free nation (Tocqueville, gutenberg.org). In the monarch in France, the king was not blamed for wrong doing. Rather, the blame was placed on his advisers. This was because the favored obedience and the subjects could complain without failing to honor and respect the leaders. In the case of America, the same happened with respect to the majority that ruled. The power of majority was established on the interest of the chosen few. Once a nation is divided, the rights of the majority are often overlooked, because it is difficult to fulfill their demands. Class citizens in America who had the majority rule intimidated the weak, and brought them down their ranks; the minority couldn’t comply with the laws (Tocqueville, gutenberg.org). In the case of the United States, they were colonized by people who were of the same rank with them. This didn’t bring disagreement between the interests and the inhabitants. In some societies, the rich and strong come together to intimidate the weak. In anarchy, the weak are also oppressed by the rich. What are the ways the authors say that this tyranny can be somehow avoided or mitigated? To eliminate or reduce this tyranny, the leaders gave political powers to the people; the kings gave rights to the lower class to have power with the intention of crushing the rich. In France, kings would try their best to level the people with the rich, and the weak would rise above their level. Division of property has reduced the gap between the poor and the rich. Nevertheless, this didn’t end the rift that exists between them to this day. Christianity has pointed out that people are equal in God’s eyes and are also equal according to the law (Tocqueville, gutenberg.org). There are leaders of peace, morality, and quiet habits that are sincere patriots to their country. The independence and authority of townships, according to Tocqueville, attracts people to actively participate in civic affairs that would not exist if the ability to exercise real power, even in a limited area, was curtailed (gutenberg.org). Trial by a jury can be used to mitigate tyranny of majority. This is because it ensures a good justice system. Different people may be selected from different social classes and areas. In this process, there is no political favor. Trial by a jury ensures that personal interests are not considered. The jury implements powerful judgment and uses natural intelligence, which are advantages for the rich and poor. The legal profession has been used to mitigate tyranny of majority. The people in government are powerful and support democracy. When the noble, rich and princes are excluded from the government, the lawyers are the only people with information. They work with a democratic government which doesn’t intimidate the weak (Tocqueville, gutenberg.org). Individuals who have studied law have different instincts in regard to different issues, value formalities and have particular habits in connection to their occupation, and all these make them unfriendly to the wishes of majority since they might be unreflecting. In regard to their level of intellect, lawyers are placed at a rank separate to the rest in every society. From this analogy by Tocqueville, lawyers use litigation and adjudication to mitigate tyranny of majority. According to Prempeh, Tocqueville also believed that lawyers duty “as legislators and officers of the executive, lawyers, rather than serving merely as conduits for translating the peoples passions into law and policy, would mediate, tame, and even divert such passions and thereby block the excesses of majority rule” (73). Despite man’s desire to acquire power, men still have a heart of equality. For this reason, the lower classes of people want to lower the rich to their level and the people prefer equality in slavery, rather than inequality with freedom. These states are viewed as weak and don’t have liberty, but they instead value liberty and equality. Nevertheless, a state where all people are on the same basis is difficult to achieve sovereignty against. This is because there is no one to help them struggle (Tocqueville, gutenberg.org). Legislative power can represent the majority and not enslave itself. The executive was to maintain the law of uncontrollable authority and the judiciary was to continue being independent of the two powers. The government was established on a democratic ground using tyrannical abuse. Hamilton states that it is important for a republic to guard the society against the oppression of the leaders and reduce injustice in the society. Does the tyranny of the majority remain a 21st century problem? Tyranny of majority is not completely over as some of the laws today are formed by the majority. The social economic conditions in America are highly democratic to this day. The inequality that has continued to exist among the immigrants that settled in England is still there. Tyranny of the majority is one of the biggest threats to democracy in the world of today. Political parties in many states consider the majority in their election plans and this underestimates the needs of their citizens (Tocqueville, gutenberg.org). People living below the poverty level, middle class citizens and the self-employed also get a chance to vote. They at least get a representative, but the rich and powerful groups get a majority representation. Many elected leaders use their powers against the voters, instead of representing them. The leaders use this power to enrich themselves. In the present day, the stronger are equally matched with the weak. In this case, the Government protects the weak, poor, rich and strong. Conclusion As demonstrated, when the elected leaders use law supported by a majority, the minority are harassed. The majority use their power to oppress the weak. They are obliged to invest in the making and executing of laws. Governments of states use equality to try and reduce the tyranny of majority. Tyranny of majority still has traces to this day. The majority set rules and execute them. Although they don’t oppress the minority, the tyranny of majority still exists. Works Cited Bookman, John. The Mythology of American Politics: A Critical Response to Fundamental Questions. Washington, D C: Potomac Books, Inc., 2008. Print. Prempeh, K. “Lawyers and Liberal Democracy.” Journal of Democracy 11.1 (2000): 71-78. Print. Tocqueville, Alexis. “Democracy in America.” gutenberg.org. 8 June 2014. Web. 30 October 2014. Read More