The danger in our system is that the general government, which represents the interests of the whole, may encroach on the states, which represent the peculiar and local interests, or that the latter may encroach on the former.
John C. CalhounRead
The Government of the absolute majority instead of the Government of the people is but the Government of the strongest interests; and when not efficiently checked, it is the most tyrannical and oppressive that can be devised.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the idea that majority rule always represents the people's will, highlighting the risks of tyranny by powerful interests.
John C. Calhoun's quote emphasizes that a government controlled by the absolute majority can become dominated by the strongest interests, leading to oppression and tyranny. He warns that without proper checks and balances, the desires of a powerful few can overshadow the rights and needs of the wider population, ultimately resulting in a government that is more authoritarian and less representative of its citizens.
Themes
GovernmentMajorityTyrannyOppressionInterestsPolitics
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about democratic systems, this quote can be used to highlight the risks of majority rule.
More from John C. Calhoun
All quotes →There is a tendency in all parties, when they have been for a long time in possession of power, to augment it.
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I hold that there is a mysterious connection between the fate of this country and that of Mexico; so much so that her independence and capability of sustaining herself are almost as essential to our prosperity and the maintenance of our institutions as they are to hers.
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The error is in the assumption that the General Government is a party to the constitutional compact. The States ... formed the compact, acting as sovereign and independent communities.
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There is not an example on record of any free state holding a province of the same extent and population without disastrous consequences. The nations conquered and held as a province have, in time, retaliated by destroying the liberty of their conquerors through the corrupting effect of extended patronage and irresponsible power.
John C. CalhounRead
Stripped of all its covering, the naked question is, whether ours is a federal or consolidated government; a constitutional or absolute one; a government resting solidly on the basis of the sovereignty of the States, or on the unrestrained will of a majority; a form of government, as in all other unlimited ones, in which injustice, violence, and force must ultimately prevail.
John C. CalhounRead
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