Reconciling Majority Rule and Individual Liberty;
by Basiclaw.net
"...The purpose of this chapter is to define devolved popular sovereignty and reconcile popular sovereignty and majority rule with individual liberty. The central premise of the proposed model is that the shortcomings of majority rule and the risk of minority oppression can be alleviated by combining the Rousseauean idea of popular sovereignty with the idea of devolution.
Historical Background - Individual Liberty and Hobbes's Social Contract
The ultimate basis for political power is often thought to have been a real or implied social contract. The real or implied social contract is an agreement that every individual entered with every other individual to protect himself against the dangers of the state of nature.
In Hobbes's version the first and only task of political society is to name the sovereign (whether individual or group). The contract itself is permanent and irrevocable and commits the individual to absolute obedience.
The main problem with this view of the world is its lack of legitimacy with respect to the descendants of the original contractors. Even if we assume that an individual can sign away his own liberty, is it legitimate that he can commit his descendants to slavery? Can it really be true that we are bound by our ancestors and have to accept any government we happen to inherit?..."--BasicLaw's "Blueprint for a New Confederation"; read more on cite
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