Counting the Many

The Origins and Limits of Supermajority Rule

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, History & Theory, Social Science
Cover of the book Counting the Many by Melissa Schwartzberg, Cambridge University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Melissa Schwartzberg ISBN: 9781107423534
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication: November 18, 2013
Imprint: Cambridge University Press Language: English
Author: Melissa Schwartzberg
ISBN: 9781107423534
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: November 18, 2013
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Language: English

Supermajority rules govern many features of our lives in common: from the selection of textbooks for our children's schools to residential covenants, from the policy choices of state and federal legislatures to constitutional amendments. It is usually assumed that these rules are not only normatively unproblematic but necessary to achieve the goals of institutional stability, consensus, and minority protections. In this book, Melissa Schwartzberg challenges the logic underlying the use of supermajority rule as an alternative to majority decision making. She traces the hidden history of supermajority decision making, which originally emerged as an alternative to unanimous rule, and highlights the tensions in the contemporary use of supermajority rules as an alternative to majority rule. Although supermajority rules ostensibly aim to reduce the purported risks associated with majority decision making, they do so at the cost of introducing new liabilities associated with the biased judgments they generate and secure.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Supermajority rules govern many features of our lives in common: from the selection of textbooks for our children's schools to residential covenants, from the policy choices of state and federal legislatures to constitutional amendments. It is usually assumed that these rules are not only normatively unproblematic but necessary to achieve the goals of institutional stability, consensus, and minority protections. In this book, Melissa Schwartzberg challenges the logic underlying the use of supermajority rule as an alternative to majority decision making. She traces the hidden history of supermajority decision making, which originally emerged as an alternative to unanimous rule, and highlights the tensions in the contemporary use of supermajority rules as an alternative to majority rule. Although supermajority rules ostensibly aim to reduce the purported risks associated with majority decision making, they do so at the cost of introducing new liabilities associated with the biased judgments they generate and secure.

More books from Cambridge University Press

Cover of the book The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300–2050 by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book Towards a European Energy Union by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book The Emerging Industrial Relations of China by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book Anesthesia for Otolaryngologic Surgery by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book Christianity and Freedom: Volume 2, Contemporary Perspectives by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book Nonlinear Climate Dynamics by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book Deliberation across Deeply Divided Societies by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book After Said by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book Popular Fiction and Brain Science in the Late Nineteenth Century by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book Contested Justice by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book The Impact of Idealism: Volume 3, Aesthetics and Literature by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book The Human Face of the European Union by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book The Cambridge Companion to Laurence Sterne by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book Mapping Mythologies by Melissa Schwartzberg
Cover of the book The Cambridge Introduction to Chaucer by Melissa Schwartzberg
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy