Majoritarianism_of_Democracy

When talking about democracy’s intrinsic and extrinsic values, we often cogitate ourselves whether democracy is valuable intrinsically or extrinsically. Democracy, a today’s form of most nations’ government, is known as the best form of a government that works the best in the world. The major paramount feature of democracy, constitutional rights, is protected and everyone has equal rights that the nation is governed through majority. One of the best pros of having a democracy is the majoritarianism. Majoritarianism, an intrinsic value of democracy, is achieved through equality. Because people have equal rights and have rights to vote, everything is done through majority. An American legal scholar, Cass Sunstein, argues that chosen body of citizens through the medium must govern the nation and through heterogeneity. (Sunstein) Sunstein presents the most compelling idea of democracy in that he criticizes the self interested representation by government officials, power of faction and legacy of monarchy. Sunstein insists that by having these three problems eliminated, it is possible to achieve equality in society and create a deliberative democracy. While majority rule is an intrinsic value of democracy, it is a substantive exception to constitutional rights. Constitutional rights refer to Bill of Rights which includes the most basic rights (freedom of speech, religion, the press, and assembly). These rights are must-have rights that should not be ruled through majority. If, by any chance, these rules are governed through majority, the system of democracy will collapse. As an English philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, talks about human’s inalienable natural rights, human are born with natural rights. Democracy enriches people’s lives as citizens and recognizes their dignity as human beings. (Gershman) Democracy is intrinsically valuable in that people have equality and liberty in a society and a society is governed through the principle of majoritarianism. However, the constitutional rights should be exceptions to majority.