The Tyranny of the Minority

Is majoritarian rule -- the bedrock of democracy -- in trouble? In this episode, Princeton historian Sean Wilentz discusses the tension between the imperative of majority rule and the necessity of protecting minority rights. The tension dates to our founding in the battle between federalists and anti-federalists. Our current problems also have antecedents in the controversy over nullification in the early 1830s and in the secession crisis of 1860-61. Today, Wilentz warns, Republican officials loyal to former President Donald Trump are deliberately eroding public confidence in the election system. They are falsely claiming the 2020 election was rigged, thereby rendering Joseph R. Biden’s electoral majority "invalid." Moreover, the combination of gerrymandering and restrictive voting laws passed in dozens of states, and the threat of the filibuster to thwart voting rights legislation in the Senate, threatens to make permanent a “rule of the minority,” according to the Princeton scholar.