ABSTRACT
When there are just two options under consideration, so that cycles are not an issue and majority rule is well defined, there is a tendency to think of the problem of voting as one of simply determining what the majority wants. But it is not necessarily true that the majority should always prevail. It is possible that the aggregate intensity of the feelings about a decision on the part of the minority is greater than the aggregate intensity of the feelings on the part of the majority, so that it is arguable that the minority ought to prevail. The rationale for majority rule from the principle of insufficient reason that was developed in Chapter 8 relied on the presumption that there was no basis for asserting that the average intensity of feeling among the minority was any greater than the average intensity of feeling among the majority. Thus if there is some basis in a particular election for asserting that the aggregate intensity of the feelings of the minority is greater than the aggregate intensity of feelings of the majority, then it can be argued that in that particular instance the minority should prevail.
