Meaning & use
majority rule
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Meanings
noununcountable
A system in which the side with more than half the votes or members makes the decisions for everyone.
Grammar: Uncountable, so it takes a singular verb: majority rule means ... (not 'majority rules mean').
Patterns
- under majority rule
- a supporter of majority rule
- majority rule in a country
Under majority rule, the party with the most seats can pass laws without the agreement of the smaller parties.
The new constitution promised majority rule, so every decision would need more than half the assembly to agree.
Many people in the region campaigned for majority rule because they wanted every adult's vote to count equally.
noununcountable
The ordinary practice in a meeting or group of deciding something by counting votes and letting the larger number win.
Grammar: Also uncountable here; it often follows 'by' to show how a decision is made: decided by majority rule.
Patterns
- decide something by majority rule
- operate by majority rule
- a vote by majority rule
The committee settled the question by majority rule, so the proposal passed even though several members objected.
Our club operates by majority rule: whatever more than half the members want is what we do.
She disliked majority rule in small meetings because she felt the quiet members were never heard.
Common combinations
- under majority rule
- Under majority rule, the largest group can outvote all the others.
- a majority rule system
- A majority rule system is simple, but it can leave large minorities unhappy.
- campaign for majority rule
- They campaigned for majority rule for many years before the change came.
- decide something by majority rule
- The board decided the matter by majority rule after a long debate.
- the principle of majority rule
- The principle of majority rule is central to most modern democracies.
Synonyms and how they differ
- majoritarianism
- A more formal, academic word for the same idea, often used when criticizing a system that ignores minorities.
- democracy
- A wider term for government by the people; majority rule is only one part of democracy, which also protects minority rights.
Opposites
Word family
- majority noun
- The larger part of a group, or the number by which one side beats the other.
- majoritarian adjective
- Describing a system or attitude that favors decisions by the larger number of people.
Commonly confused: majority rule or majority vote? majority rule or plurality?
majority rule vs majority vote
A majority vote is a single act of voting in which more than half agree; majority rule is the general system of governing that way.
majority rule vs plurality
A plurality is the largest share of votes when no one reaches half; majority rule normally requires more than half.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'majority rule' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Majority rule' is an uncountable fixed phrase, so it takes no article and no plural: 'by majority rule'. Options 1 and 2 wrongly add 'a' or 'the', and option 3 wrongly makes it plural.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “majority rule”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.