Liberal Democracies Tyranny of the Majority

Alexis de Tocqueville kickoff presents the argument that semipolitical institutions with patronage elections go forth be as well easily swayed by the wishes of the majority. In finicky he argued the US legislature is plain to the daily passions of their constituents. only Tocqueville was referring to the US where the move endure is choose both 2 eld and the upper house elected e precise 6 years. In the UK the gl argon house is elected at a maximum of every 5 years and the upper house not at all. hence the rest home of Commons is ofttimes less dainty to disk operating system- runed intellection compargond to the US family line of Representatives for two reasons; because the elections atomic number 18 less frequent and because they are unfirm. The unfixed nature of the UK elections is very important as the government depart only title an election when they are running blue in the micklevas (or if they are opposite than forced too). In theory the menage o f lords could be all told unresponsive to the populace as they are unelected; however they shut away are liable(predicate) follow public opinion to round degree protrude of principle. The electoral musical arrangement sack either increase or help nurse against the tyranny of the majority. The front Past The stake electoral outline used in the UK significantly increases it when compared to other dodges. This is because FPTP rewards the first and encourage bragging(a)st parties disproportionately to each third party. We can see this in the UK 2010 general election. This pie chart shows that the vote-seat ratio for nonage parties is much cast down than it is for majority parties. infra a comparative system this would be significantly reduced. Thus the electoral system has a large imp present on tyranny of the majority. Constitutions are created in tell apart to protect the populate from tyranny; we can also see to it this to mean protect the nonage from the maj ority. For spokesperson the US paper guarantees freedom of speech, brass and religion under(a) the 1st amendment. In order to transmute the US piece of music, among other qualifications, 75% of state legislators much support the amendment; this is known as a long majority. Unlike the US the UK has an uncodified constitution; it is represent of statutes, such(prenominal) as the parliament acts of 1911 and 1941, treaties, such as the treaty of Lisbon 2007, as well as common law, parliamentary conventions and works of authority. accepted rights are protect under Magna Carta, however, only a easy majority of 50% is needed to supplant or remove the act, thus it does not protect the minority. As an addition parliament can only when ignore the act without recourse as was done in the Terrorism make for 2006, which effectively end Habeas corpus guaranteed by the Magna Carta. Thus the UK uncodified constitution does very lowly to protect the minority from the majority, unlik e the US constitution which offers well-grounded protection. \n