Condorcet methods
68-439: The term " minority group " has different usages, depending on the context. According to its common usage, the term minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half, is a "minority". Usually a minority group is disempowered relative to the majority , and that characteristic lends itself to different applications of
136-446: A biological fact or social accomplishment. Behavior toward the individual will be in accordance with the accepted lie. Consequently, behavior expected from that individual will also be in accordance with that accepted lie rather than the ascribed status that would be associated with him if the truth were known. The success of the structure requires that the expectations remain constant, even if they are illegitimately acquired, given that
204-404: A biological one. The meaning is derived from the collection of expectations of how an individual should behave and what the expected treatment of that individual is. If an individual lies about a biological fact or social accomplishment and this lie remains undiscovered by others and is accepted by them, then in this social system, his status will be based on the lie. His status would not be based on
272-588: A disability at all. Rather, they are disadvantaged by technologies and social institutions designed to cater to the dominant group. ( See the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities .) People belonging to religious minorities have a faith that is different from that held by the majority. Most countries of the world have religious minorities. It is now widely accepted in the West that people should have
340-404: A low social status generally have a lower self-esteem. A negative image of oneself among individuals with lower ascribed statuses is the result of the internalization of the expectations that others have of them and the treatment that they receive based on those statuses. Additionally, labeling theory can play a role in ascribed status and self-esteem as well. Labeling theory is associated with
408-415: A low achieved status. Wealth is not the only social characteristic that defines an individual's ascribed status. Religion is also a factor. If a person's family identifies with a particular religion, be it Christianity , Hinduism , Islam , etc., generally that person may be presumed to adopt the same religion as their biological or adopted parents. An individual's religion or absence of religion becomes
476-485: A minority group as "a group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination". The definition includes both objective and subjective criteria: membership of a minority group is objectively ascribed by society, based on an individual's physical or behavioral characteristics; it
544-517: A minority needs its own supermajority to overturn a decision. To support the view that majority rule protects minority rights better than supermajority rules, McGann pointed to the cloture rule in the US Senate, which was used to prevent the extension of civil liberties to racial minorities. Saunders, while agreeing that majority rule may offer better protection than supermajority rules, argued that majority rule may nonetheless be of little help to
612-423: A minority, the status of women, as a subordinate group, has led to many social scientists to refer to them as a disadvantaged group. Though women's legal rights and status vary widely across countries, women often experience social inequalities, relative to men, in various societies. Women are sometimes denied access to education and access to the same opportunities as men, especially in under-developed countries. In
680-479: A part of his or her ascribed status. The social norms of a particular religion may have different ascribed statuses than those given by the larger society because followers are ascribed status based on the religious doctrines that govern their belief. Ascribed status can also be closely linked with master status , as they both involve what a person is born into. Master status is a broader term that includes more topics than ascribed status. Castes are an example of
748-869: A racial and religious minority). Likewise, individuals may also be part of a minority group in regard to some characteristics, but part of a dominant group in regard to others. The term "minority group" often occurs within the discourse of civil rights and collective rights , as members of minority groups are prone to differential treatment in the countries and societies in which they live. Minority group members often face discrimination in multiple areas of social life, including housing, employment, healthcare, and education, among others. While discrimination may be committed by individuals, it may also occur through structural inequalities , in which rights and opportunities are not equally accessible to all. Those in favour of minority rights often pursue laws designed to protect minority groups from discrimination and afford members of
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#1732773250488816-432: A right might be majoritarian , but it would not be legitimate, because it would violate the requirement for equal rights . Voting theorists claimed that cycling leads to debilitating instability. Buchanan and Tullock note that unanimity is the only decision rule that guarantees economic efficiency. McGann argued that majority rule helps to protect minority rights , at least in deliberative settings. The argument
884-435: A section that stated if authorities did not protect people with learning disabilities from others' actions, such as harm or neglect, then they could be prosecuted. The disability rights movement has contributed to an understanding of disabled people as a minority or a coalition of minorities who are disadvantaged by society, not just as people who are disadvantaged by their impairments. Advocates of disability rights emphasize
952-512: A very different culture and language makes difficulties in the early stages of life in the new country. Voluntary immigrants do not experience a sense of divided identity as much as involuntary minorities and are often rich in social capital because of their educational ambitions. Major immigrant groups in the United States include Mexicans, Central and South Americans, Cubans, Africans, East Asians, and South Asians. The term sexual minority
1020-417: Is a social group within a state that differs from the majority and/or dominant population in terms of ethnicity, language, culture, or religion, but also it also tends to have a close link with a specific territory from which the minority social group originates. Also known as "castelike minorities", involuntary minorities are a term for people who were originally brought into any society against their will. In
1088-568: Is also subjectively applied by its members, who may use their status as the basis of group identity or solidarity . Thus, minority group status is categorical: an individual who exhibits the physical or behavioral characteristics of a given minority group is accorded the status of that group and is subject to the same treatment as other members of that group. Joe Feagin , states that a minority group has five characteristics: (1) suffering discrimination and subordination, (2) physical and/or cultural traits that set them apart, and which are disapproved by
1156-435: Is assigned to an individual without reference to their innate differences or abilities. Achieved status is determined by an individual's performance or effort. Linton noted that while the definitions of the two concepts are clear and distinct, it is not always easy to identify whether an individual's status is ascribed or achieved. His perspective offers a deviation from the view that ascribed statuses are always fixed. Religion
1224-585: Is based on gender, race, family origins, and ethnic backgrounds. In contrast, an achieved status is a social position a person takes on voluntarily that reflects both personal ability and merit. An individual's occupation tends to fall under the category of an achieved status; for example, a teacher or a firefighter. Individuals have control over their achieved statuses insofar as there are no restrictions associated with their ascribed statuses that could potentially hinder their social growth. Ascribed status plays an important role in societies because it can provide
1292-434: Is based on the idea that a group can be considered a minority even if it includes such a large number of people that it is numerically not a minority in society. Some sociologists have criticized the concept of "minority/majority", arguing this language excludes or neglects changing or unstable cultural identities, as well as cultural affiliations across national boundaries. As such, the term historically excluded groups (HEGs)
1360-495: Is frequently used by public health researchers to recognize a wide variety of individuals who engage in same-sex sexual behavior, including those who do not identify under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. For example, men who have sex with men (MSM), but do not identify as gay. In addition, the term gender minorities can include many types of gender variant people, such as intersex people, transgender people , or non-binary individuals. However,
1428-474: Is generally perceived as an ascribed status but for those individuals who choose a religion as an adult, or convert to another religion, their religion becomes an achieved status, based on Linton's definition. It is commonly perceived that ascribed statuses are irreversible while achieved statuses are reversible. Linton uses Leo Schnore's research to illustrate how ascribed statuses can be both irreversible and reversible. An example of an ascribed reversible status
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#17327732504881496-554: Is given to them by either their society or group, leaving them little or no control over it. Rather, the ascribed status is assigned based on social and cultural expectations, norms, and standards. These positions are occupied regardless of efforts or desire. These rigid social designators remain fixed throughout an individual's life and are inseparable from the positive or negative stereotypes that are linked with one's ascribed statuses. The practice of assigning such statuses to individuals exists cross-culturally within all societies and
1564-581: Is largely determined hereditarily . However, it can also be influenced by factors such as adoption , cultural assimilation , religious conversion , and language shift . As race and ethnicity often overlap, many ethnic minorities are also racial minorities. However, this is not always the case, and some people are ethnic minorities while also being classified as white, such as some Jews , Roma , and Sámi . In some cases, their ethnic identities have been seen as negating their whiteness, in both inter- and intra-group identification. In some countries, such as
1632-575: Is often similarly used to highlight the role of historical oppression and domination, and how this results in the under-representation of particular groups in various areas of social life. The term national minority is often used to discuss minority groups in international and national politics. All countries contain some degree of racial, ethnic, or linguistic diversity. In addition, minorities may also be immigrant, indigenous or landless nomadic communities. This often results in variations in language, culture, beliefs, practices, that set some groups apart from
1700-790: Is one of the criteria for to determine a national minority, upon the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities . Some especially significant or powerful minorities receive comprehensive protection and political representation. For example, the former Yugoslav Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina recognizes the three constitutive nations, none of which constitutes a numerical majority (see nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina ). However, other minorities such as Roma and Jews , are officially labelled "foreign" and are excluded from many of these protections. For example, they may be excluded from political positions, including
1768-684: Is perceived as an unassimilated ethnic group (on a linguistic, religious, physical, or ideological basis) by the ruling political elite of a country" and reserves the term 'minority' only for groups that have been granted minority rights by their state of residence. Minority group membership is typically based on differences in observable characteristics or practices, such as: ethnicity (ethnic minority), race (racial minority), religion ( religious minority ), sexual orientation ( sexual minority ), or disability . The framework of intersectionality can be used to recognize that an individual may simultaneously hold membership in multiple minority groups (e.g. both
1836-477: Is seen under proportional representation in the Netherlands , Austria , and Sweden , as empirical evidence of majority rule's stability. Ascribed status Ascribed status is a term used in sociology that refers to the social status of a person that is assigned at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life. The status is a position that is neither earned by the person nor chosen for them. It
1904-420: Is that cycling ensures that parties that lose to a majority have an interest to remain part of the group's process, because any decision can easily be overturned by another majority. Furthermore, suppose a minority wishes to overturn a decision. In that case, under majority rule it just needs to form a coalition that has more than half of the officials involved and that will give it power. Under supermajority rules,
1972-427: Is the status of citizenship. An example of ascribed irreversible status is age. His conclusion is based on the fact that an ascribed status within a social structure is indicative of the behavior that one can exhibit but it does not explain the action itself. Ascribed status is an arbitrary system of classifying individuals that is not fixed in the way that most people think. Status is a social phenomenon rather than
2040-494: The United Kingdom . The various minority groups in a country are often not given equal treatment. Some groups are too small or indistinct to obtain minority protections. For example, a member of a particularly small ethnic group might be forced to check "Other" on a checklist of different backgrounds and so might receive fewer privileges than a member of a more defined group. Many contemporary governments prefer to assume
2108-576: The United States , for example, non-Hispanic Whites constitute the majority (58.4%) and all other racial and ethnic groups ( Mexican , African Americans , Asian Americans , American Indian , and Native Hawaiians ) are classified as "minorities". If the non-Hispanic White population falls below 50% the group will only be the plurality , not the majority. Racial minorities, sometimes referred to synonymously as people of color or non-white people, are minority groups that are discriminated against on
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2176-422: The majority rule ( MR ) is a social choice rule which says that, when comparing two options (such as bills or candidates ), the option preferred by more than half of the voters (a majority ) should win. In political philosophy , the majority rule is one of two major competing notions of democracy . The most common alternative is given by the utilitarian rule (or other welfarist rules), which identify
2244-461: The median voter theorem guarantees that majority-rule will tend to elect "compromise" or "consensus" candidates in many situations, unlike plurality-rules (see center squeeze ). Parliamentary rules may prescribe the use of a supermajoritarian rule under certain circumstances, such as the 60% filibuster rule to close debate in the US Senate . However such requirement means that 41 percent of
2312-504: The socially-optimal winner and the majority-preferred winner often overlap. Majority rule is the most common social choice rule worldwide, being heavily used in deliberative assemblies for dichotomous decisions, e.g. whether or not to pass a bill. Mandatory referendums where the question is yes or no are also generally decided by majority rule. It is one of the basic rules of parliamentary procedure , as described in handbooks like Robert's Rules of Order . One alternative to
2380-506: The "minority group", despite the fact that they outnumber white Europeans in South Africa. This is why academics more frequently use the term "minority group" to refer to a category of people that experience relative disadvantage, as compared to members of a dominant social group. To address this ambiguity, Harris Mylonas has proposed the term "non-core group", instead of "minority group", to refer to any aggregation of individuals that
2448-579: The United Kingdom, there is a preference to categorise people by ethnicity instead of race. Ethnicity encompasses a mix of "long shared cultural experiences, religious practices, traditions, ancestry, language, dialect or national origins". The United Kingdom considers everyone but white British people to be an ethnic minority, including other white Europeans such as White Irish people (excluding in Northern Ireland). A national minority
2516-429: The United States' one-drop rule and blood quantum laws , South Africa's apartheid , and Nazi Germany Nuremberg race laws . Other times, race has been a matter of self-identification, with de facto racist policies implemented. In addition to governmental policy, racism may persist as social prejudice and discrimination. There are also social groups that are usually identified through ethnicity . Like race, ethnicity
2584-483: The United States, for instance, it includes but is not limited to Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Puerto Ricans, African Americans, and in the 1800s, native-born Hispanics . Immigrants take on minority status in their new country, usually in hopes of a better future economically, educationally, and politically than in their homeland. Because of their focus on success, voluntary minorities are more likely to do better in school than other migrating minorities. Adapting to
2652-587: The bare minimum required to "win" because of the likelihood that they would soon be reversed. Within this atmosphere of compromise, a minority faction may accept proposals that it dislikes in order to build a coalition for a proposal that it deems of greater moment. In that way, majority rule differentiates weak and strong preferences. McGann argued that such situations encourage minorities to participate, because majority rule does not typically create permanent losers, encouraging systemic stability. He pointed to governments that use largely unchecked majority rule, such as
2720-671: The basis of race . Though definitions vary cross-culturally, modern racism is primarily based on the European and American classifications of race that developed during the Age of Exploration , as European countries sought to categorize the nations they colonized into pseudo-scientific phenotypical groups. In the United States's system, whiteness is at the top of a hierarchy that automatically classifies mixed-race individuals as their subordinate race . Sometimes, racist policies explicitly codified pseudo-scientific definitions of race: such as
2788-407: The concept of minority rights and bringing prominence to it. The League of Nations Minorities Commission defined minority in 1919 as "nationals belonging to racial, religious, or linguistic minorities". Protection of minority groups, such as through careful drawing of boundaries of states and proportional representation , was seen as integral in preventing causes of future wars. Louis Wirth defined
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2856-466: The concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping and is a theory that states a person becomes what they are labeled. For example, when members in society can begin to treat individuals on the basis of their ascribed statuses, they "label" them, and the individuals begin to accept the labels themselves. In other words, an individual engages in a behavior that is deemed by others as inappropriate, others label that person to be deviant, and eventually
2924-401: The difference in physical or psychological functioning rather than inferiority. For example, some autistic people argue for acceptance of neurodiversity , much as opponents of racism argue for acceptance of ethnic diversity. The deaf community is often regarded as a linguistic and cultural minority rather than a group with disabilities, and some deaf people do not see themselves as having
2992-513: The dominant group, (3) a shared sense of collective identity and common burdens, (4) socially shared rules about who belongs and who does not determine minority status, and (5) tendency to marry within the group. There is a controversy with the use of the word minority, as it has a generic and an academic usage. Common usage of the term indicates a statistical minority; however, academics refer to power differences among groups rather than differences in population size among groups. The above criticism
3060-534: The dominant group. As these differences are usually perceived negatively, this results in loss of social and political power for members of minority groups. There is no legal definition of national minorities in international law, though protection of minority groups is outlined by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities . International criminal law can protect
3128-425: The failure of the dominant English -speaking majority to integrate French Canadians has provoked Quebec separatism . Others assert that minorities require specific protections to ensure that they are not marginalized: for example, bilingual education may be needed to allow linguistic minorities to fully integrate into the school system and compete equally in society. In this view, rights for minorities strengthen
3196-434: The following properties: If voter's preferences are defined over a multidimensional option space, then choosing options using pairwise majority rule is unstable. In most cases, there will be no Condorcet winner and any option can be chosen through a sequence of votes, regardless of the original option. This means that adding more options and changing the order of votes ("agenda manipulation") can be used to arbitrarily pick
3264-524: The freedom to choose their religion, including the right to convert from one religion to another, or not to have any religion ( atheism and/or agnosticism ). However, in many countries, this freedom is constricted. In Egypt , a new system of identity cards requires all citizens to state their religion—and the only choices are Islam , Christianity , or Judaism (See Egyptian identification card controversy ). In most societies, numbers of men and women are roughly equal . Though women are not considered to be
3332-651: The group, while under supermajoritarian rules participants might only need to persuade a minority (to prevent a change). Where large changes in seats held by a party may arise from only relatively slight change in votes cast (such as under FPTP), and a simple majority is all that is required to wield power (most legislatures in democratic countries), governments may repeatedly fall into and out of power. This may cause polarization and policy lurch, or it may encourage compromise, depending on other aspects of political culture. McGann argued that such cycling encourages participants to compromise, rather than pass resolutions that have
3400-402: The individual internalizes and accepts this label. Juxtaposition of their own value systems against the larger society's view often leaves individuals of a lower status with low self-esteem without regard to the individual's actual capabilities. A negative self-image may stifle an individual's efforts to acquire a certain achieved status; this illustrates how a low ascribed status can result in
3468-582: The least minorities. Under some circumstances, the legal rights of one person cannot be guaranteed without unjustly imposing on someone else. McGann wrote, "one man's right to property in the antebellum South was another man's slavery." Amartya Sen has noted the existence of the liberal paradox , which shows that permitting assigning a very small number of rights to individuals may make everyone worse off. Saunders argued that deliberative democracy flourishes under majority rule and that under majority rule, participants always have to convince more than half
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#17327732504883536-490: The majority rule is the set of plurality rules , which includes ranked choice-runoff (RCV) , two-round plurality , or first-preference plurality . This is often used in elections with more than two candidates. In these elections, the winning candidate is the one with the most votes after applying some voting procedure, even if a majority of voters would prefer some other candidate. The utilitarian rule , and cardinal social choice rules in general, take into account not just
3604-413: The members or more could prevent debate from being closed, an example where the majority will would be blocked by a minority. Kenneth May proved that the simple majority rule is the only "fair" ordinal decision rule, in that majority rule does not let some votes count more than others or privilege an alternative by requiring fewer votes to pass. Formally, majority rule is the only decision rule that has
3672-707: The members with a defined and unified identity. No matter where an individual's ascribed status may place him or her in the social hierarchy, most has a set of roles and expectations that are directly linked to each ascribed status and thus, provides a social personality. The various factors that determine ascribed status can be age (as in age stratification ), kinship , sex , appearance , race , social group , gender , ability status , ethnicity , socioeconomic status , culture , or caste . In addition to ascription, at birth there are also: The anthropologist, Ralph Linton , developed definitions for ascribed status and achieved status. According to Linton, ascribed status
3740-517: The minority group equal social status and legal protections as held by members of the dominant group. Prior to the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) , the term "minority" primarily referred to political parties in national legislatures, not ethnic, national, linguistic or religious groups. Such minority parties were powerless relative to the majority (or plurality) political group. The Paris Conference has been attributed with coining
3808-449: The minority, making it stronger (at least through its veto) than the majority. McGann argued that when only one of multiple minorities is protected by the super-majority rule (same as seen in simple plurality elections systems), so the protection is for the status quo, rather than for the faction that supports it. Another possible way to prevent tyranny is to elevate certain rights as inalienable . Thereafter, any decision that targets such
3876-543: The nation-building project, as members of minorities see their interests well served, and willingly accept the legitimacy of the nation and their integration (not assimilation) within it. Majority rule Positional voting Cardinal voting Quota-remainder methods Approval-based committees Fractional social choice Semi-proportional representation By ballot type Pathological response Strategic voting Paradoxes of majority rule Positive results In social choice theory ,
3944-497: The number of voters who support each choice but also the intensity of their preferences . Philosophers critical of majority rule have often argued that majority rule does not take into account the intensity of preference for different voters, and as a result "two voters who are casually interested in doing something" can defeat one voter who has "dire opposition" to the proposal of the two, leading to poor deliberative practice or even to "an aggressive culture and conflict"; however,
4012-436: The people they rule all belong to the same nationality rather than separate ones based on ethnicity. The United States asks for race and ethnicity on its official census forms, which thus breaks up and organizes its population into sub-groups, primarily racial rather than national. Spain does not divide its nationals by ethnic group or national minorities, although it does maintain an official notion of minority languages, that
4080-449: The politics of some countries, a "minority" is an ethnic group recognized by law, and having specified rights. Speakers of a legally recognized minority language , for instance, might have the right to education or communication with the government in their mother tongue. Countries with special provisions for minorities include Canada , China , Ethiopia , Germany , India , the Netherlands , Poland , Romania , Russia , Croatia , and
4148-672: The presidency. There is debate over recognizing minority groups and their privileges. One view is that the application of special rights to minority groups may harm some countries, such as new states in Africa or Latin America not founded on the European nation-state model, since minority recognition may interfere with establishing a national identity. It may hamper the integration of the minority into mainstream society, perhaps leading to separatism or supremacism . In Canada , some feel that
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#17327732504884216-607: The recognition of LGBTQ+ people as members of a minority group. These inequalities include social discrimination and isolation, unequal access to healthcare , employment, and housing, and experience negative mental and physical health outcomes due to these experiences. Leading up to the Human Rights Act 1998 in the UK, a rise in the awareness relating to how disabled people were being treated began. Many started to believe that they were being denied basic human rights. This act had
4284-553: The rights of racial or ethnic minorities in several ways. The right to self-determination is a key issue. The Council of Europe regulates minority rights in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities . In some places, subordinate ethnic groups may constitute a numerical majority, such as Blacks in South Africa under apartheid . In
4352-432: The spirit of liberal democracy with the equal consideration of interests . Although the two rules can disagree in theory, political philosophers beginning with James Mill have argued the two can be reconciled in practice, with majority rule being a valid approximation to the utilitarian rule whenever voters share similarly-strong preferences. This position has found strong support in many social choice models, where
4420-504: The term minority. In terms of sociology, economics, and politics, a demographic that takes up the smallest fraction of the population is not necessarily labelled the "minority" if it wields dominant power. In the academic context, the terms "minority" and "majority" are used in terms of hierarchical power structures . For example, in South Africa, during Apartheid , white Europeans held virtually all social, economic, and political power over black Africans. For this reason, black Africans are
4488-481: The terms sexual and gender minority are often not preferred by LGBTQ+ people, as they represent clinical categories rather than individual identity. Though lesbian , gay , bisexual , transgender , and queer (LGBTQ+) people have existed throughout human history, they represent a numerical and social minority. They experience numerous social inequalities stemming from their group membership as LGBTQ+ people. LGBTQ+ rights movements across many western countries led to
4556-429: The truth is never discovered. This further highlights the arbitrariness of ascribed status because there is no biological basis or universal truth for assigning these societal rankings to individuals. There is a positive correlation between an individual's self-esteem and their ascribed status; for this purpose, self-esteem is defined as a liking and respect for oneself which has its basis in reality. Individuals with
4624-418: The winner. In group decision-making voting paradoxes can form. It is possible that alternatives a, b, and c exist such that a majority prefers a to b, another majority prefers b to c, and yet another majority prefers c to a. Because majority rule requires an alternative to have majority support to pass, majority rule is vulnerable to rejecting the majority's decision. A super-majority rule actually empowers
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