Minority Rules

Minority rule is embedded in American democracy.  Each state has two U.S. Senators regardless of population. The electoral college has delivered a U.S. President who lost the popular vote five times. In San Francisco, Board of Supervisors tend to amass well less than 30,000 first choice votes, though the tally is increased by second, or even third, choices under ranked voting. Taken together, the six supervisors elected in 2020 collected fewer first choice votes than the mayor, who was elected in a low turnout year.  It takes six of the 11 supes to pass legislation. Whether or not this matters depends on one’s perspective. It seems likely that minority rule encourages more extreme political positions, that do not reflect what most people want. And it gives life to more creative policies that advance ideas that the majority would otherwise suppress.  Either way, it’s the nature of our democracy.