Opening page…
The test before the vote
Should everyone's vote count the same?
Some philosophers propose a basic knowledge test before anyone can vote. Democracy gives an equal voice to people whose judgment you may not trust.
Your answer
Nearby questions
- Good at heart?Are people basically good?
- Punishment without a payoffDoes anyone deserve to suffer?
- Born on the other sideWhat gives you a stronger claim to a safe, prosperous country than someone born just across its border?
- An unjust law is still a lawIs it ever right to break the law?
- Write the rules, then be bornYou must design society before finding out whether you will be rich or poor, healthy or ill, powerful or ignored. Which rules would you refuse to leave to luck?
Read alongside it1
ReadingThe omnipotence of the majorityI am not so much alarmed at the excessive liberty which reigns in that country as at the very inadequate securities which exist against tyranny. The majority has a natural power of action; it is the only power that may be dreaded. The minority has no means of resisting it, because the majority is always found to be in possession of both the physical and the moral power.
I am not so much alarmed at the excessive liberty which reigns in that country as at the very inadequate securities which exist against tyranny. The majority has a natural power of action; it is the only power that may be dreaded. The minority has no means of resisting it, because the majority is always found to be in possession of both the physical and the moral power.