Majority rule is a decision method: when eligible participants disagree, the option receiving the required majority prevails. Do not confuse a majority with a plurality. A majority exceeds half of the relevant votes; a plurality is simply the largest share and can be less than half when three or more candidates compete. Many American elections use plurality rules even though majority rule remains a general democratic principle. Democratic government could not act if every ordinary choice demanded unanimity, but no decision rule gives its winner unlimited authority. Bicameralism, vetoes, federalism, specified supermajority rules, and enforceable rights can prevent a temporary numerical majority from obtaining its first preference immediately.

Minority rights protect specified liberties and fair participation for people who lack current electoral power. A bill of rights places certain freedoms beyond ordinary legislative infringement; equal-protection principles constrain unjustified classifications; fair procedures let affected people contest government action; and political freedoms allow today's minority to organize, persuade, and become tomorrow's majority. "Minority" here is not limited to one demographic category. It can describe dissenters, unpopular speakers, religious groups, criminal defendants, or any smaller coalition whose legally protected interests are threatened by official action. These protections are governed by particular constitutional rules and are not necessarily absolute in every setting.

A strong analysis asks three separate questions. What decision rule produced the policy? What higher legal constraint applies? What institution may enforce that constraint? If a legislature enacts a popular law that suppresses a disfavored religion, majority rule explains enactment but does not settle constitutionality; the First and Fourteenth Amendments supply relevant limits, and a court may enforce them in a proper case. The best exam answer avoids two opposite errors: treating every policy loss as a violation of minority rights, or assuming electoral support cures a constitutional violation.

Video lesson: Natural rights, social contract, democracy, republicanism and limited government