Exam Review Notes

Minority vs. Majority Rule

• When answering questions about surprise, consider:
  • How will they be surprised?
  • Why would they be surprised?
  • What leads them to be surprised?
  • What's the argument?

Imposing Will

• Pushing goals may involve suppressing others'.
• Example: Assigning all homework to one person through a vote.
• Majority imposing will on the minority.
• Application to broader issues like religion: Fear of majority (e.g., Christians in America) suppressing minorities (Muslims, Jews, atheists).

Tyranny of the Minority

• Levitsky and Ziblatt: The bigger problem in the American system is the tyranny of the minority, not the majority.

Examples of Minority Rule

• Electoral College: A small group of people (electors) can override the popular vote.

  • 2016 Election: Hillary Clinton won more votes, but Donald Trump won the presidency because of the Electoral College.
  • 2020 Election: Donald Trump won the electoral college and lost the popular vote.
  • Problematic for democratic theory: Violates majority rule.
  • Voters are disincentivized when popular vote winners lose.
  • Goes against the concept of equal vote counting.

• Senate: Empowers minorities through malapportionment.

• Supreme Court.

• Gerrymandering.

Electoral College

• It can empower small states, swing states, and in some cases, minorities when a losing candidate who loses the total number of popular votes can still be elected.

Senate's Power

• Votes in smaller states (e.g., Wyoming, Vermont, South Dakota) are disproportionately powerful compared to larger states (e.g., California, Texas).
• Historical context: Conflict during the founding of the U.S. between small and large states regarding representation.
• 51% of the U.S. population lives in the nine most populated states, but they only have 18 senators.
• Minority can block legislation and confirm appointments (e.g., Supreme Court justices).

Supreme Court

• Senators representing a minority of the population can confirm Supreme Court justices.
• Justices are appointed for life, insulated from public opinion.
• Can strike down laws, even those passed with strong majority support.
• Examples: striking down minimum wage laws, voting rights measures, etc.

Supreme Court Concerns

• The Supreme Court is insulated from public opinion.
• They can strike down any legislation they want.

Examples of Supreme Court

• During the 1930s, the courts struck down legislation such as laws that banned child labor.
• Laws that banned minimum wage.

Merrick Garland Example

• Justice Scalia died in February 2015.
• The Senate was controlled by Republicans.
• Republicans said they won't make a new nominee until the next election.
• After the next election, they allowed that seat to be filled by Neil Gorsuch.
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Counter Majoritarian Institutions

• Levitsky and Ziblatt argue that countermajoritarian institutions do not protect minority rights.

Filibuster Effect

• Filibuster: Requires 60 votes to pass legislation in the Senate.

• Justification: Protection against tyranny of the majority.

• Levitsky and Ziblatt: Historically, the filibuster has often been used to block minority rights.

  • 1922, 1937, 1940: Efforts to establish federal laws against lynching blocked by filibuster.
  • 1942, 1944, 1946: Efforts to repeal poll taxes blocked by filibuster.
  • Lodge Bill (aggressive voting rights reform) blocked by filibuster.

Filibuster Argument

• Lubitsky and Ziegler argue that the filibuster has actually not protected what we traditionally think of minority rights.
• Voting rights, civil rights, integration, so on, have been limited by a filibuster, countermajoritarian institution.

Counter Majority Institutions in Other Countries

• Other countries have had filibusters or the equivalent of filibusters.
• Others have had counter majoritarian institutions.
• Others have had unlimited debate.
• When there were debates of whether to abolish such institutions in these other countries, such as Sweden, Norway, The UK, people made similar predictions that chaos could spread.

Constitutions

• A written constitution is another key counter majority hearing institute.
• We are bound by the constitution, by the freedom of speech, by the Second Amendment.
• We are bound by all those even though a lot of founders are currently dead.
• Constitutions should bound people, but they shouldn't bound people forever
• Supermajority institutions prevent bad government action.

Hamilton and Madison

• Hamilton and Madison opposed The US.
• Hamilton and Madison did come up with an opinion on the equivalent of or supermajority
• The constitution was shaped by existing power structures rather than by great ideas.
• Hamilton and Madison, for instance, both of them opposed The US.

State's Power

• Connecticut threatened to leave if their demands weren't met.
• The states back then were 13 separate colonies.
• They were more like the equivalent of the European Union is today.

Test Advice

• Summarize the arguments.
• You still need to understand where the authors are coming from.
• You cannot critique an argument until you understand it.