Tyranny of the majority

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Tyranny of the majority is an inherent weakness of majority rule where the majority of an electorate pursues its own objectives at the expense of those of the minority factions. This results in oppression of minority groups comparable to that of a tyrant or despot.^[1]

In both cases, in the context of a nation, constitutional limits on the powers of a legislative body such as a bill of rights or supermajority clause have been used to counter the problem. A separation of powers (for example legislative and executive majority actions subject to review by the judiciary) may also be implemented to prevent the problem from happening internally in a government.^[2]

In social choice, a tyranny-of-the-majority scenario can be formally defined as a situation where the socially-optimal candidate (according to the summation rule) is different from the majority-preferred candidate (see majority rule).