From the archives.

Throughout 1999, Commonweal will be celebrating its 75th anniversary. Here from the March 23, 1952 issue is "The Meaning of Majority Rule," by John Hallowell.

What is demanded by the democratic form of government is not submission to the will of the majority because that will is numerically superior but rather submission to the reasoned judgment of the majority. We are obligated to submit to the decision of the majority not because that decision represents a numerically superior will but because it represents the best judgment of society with respect to a particular matter at a particular time. It is founded not upon the principle that the will of the many should prevail over the will of the few but rather upon the principle that the judgment of the many is likely to be superior to the judgment of the few.

The principle of majority rule is founded upon the belief that the widest possible popular discussion and deliberation is likely to yield wiser decisions than a discussion limited to a few. The decision recorded by majority vote may then be fairly said to represent not a portion of society but the whole people. Democracy attempts to implement the principle that government should rest upon the consent of the people by making provision for the widest possible popular deliberation and participation in the formulation of public policy....