Pluralism, federalism and the protection of civil liberties

Abstract

One of the most vexing problems of democratic government' is the protection of civil liberties. In a system in which majority preferences dominate, how can the minority be protected from the ill-conceived schemes of the majority? Striking a balance between majority rule and minority rights has been a recurrent problem in the politics of the U.S. and other polities that aspire toward democracy. This problem of majority tyranny is all the more significant in light of the deep-seated propensity toward political intolerance that seems to exist in the United States. The American political culture has long harbored substantial strains of intolerance of unpopular political minorities.2 Benign majorities hatch few oppressive schemes; intolerant majorities, when threatened, often become malevolent. In the context of this widespread political intolerance, structural and institutional means of protecting political minorities are essential. Governmental architectssuch as those who wrote the