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Last Updated on June 25, 2023
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In this post, we are going to take a look at two words and clear the air around the majority, minority, and plurality by seeing what it means during election times.
Majority and Minority
The majority – Used to refer to more than 50% of something
Minority – Used to refer to less than 50% of something
We know that the words majority and minority are used in the discussion of election results. Who gets the majority or minority of seats? Usually the “magic number” is the bare minimum majority, which is one seat more than the 50% of total seats in the legislature to form a government.
Supermajority
However, in some countries’ upper or lower houses of the legislature, in order to pass a bill into law, it requires approval or “yeas” from two-thirds of the representatives or council. This two-thirds majority is called a Supermajority.
Plurality
Technically speaking, there is also a word for a candidate who secured more votes than anyone else but the number of votes are not more than half of the total. The word is Plurality.
This plurality can be majority or minority depending on what percentage of the total votes the candidate with the highest votes has received. If the candidate has received >50% then the plurality is the majority. If <50%, then plurality is a minority.
Nonetheless, the popular vote, which is a plurality of the votes is enough for a candidate to win in most countries. Even if it means the candidate with the highest votes receives <30%, the candidate is still a winner. This happens when there are multiple candidates and the competition is tough.
Some people misunderstand that majority is needed to win the election. This is because politicians love to pretend that they have well over the majority of people on their side. No, just plurality is enough. However, it is not possible to form a government without winning the majority of seats.
As an Adjective
The words majority and minority are also used as an adjective, always used before a noun.
Examples:
the majority opinion [=the opinion of most of the people]
a majority decision [=a decision supported by most of the people]
the minority government
a minority community
References:
https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/plurality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majority
