What exactly is the "tyranny of the majority", why is Mill concerned about it and what is his solution?

BRY2K

The phrase tyranny of the majority, used in discussing systems of democracy and majority rule, is a criticism of the scenario in which decisions made by a majority under that system would place that majority's interests so far above a minority's interest as to be comparable in cruelty to "tyrannical" despots. Limits on the decisions that can be made by such majorities, such as constitutional limits on the powers of parliament and use of a bill of rights in a parliamentary democracy, are commonly meant to avoid the problem. The phrase has variously been sourced to John Stuart Mill in On Liberty (1859). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority Mill's work could be considered a reaction to this social control by the majority and his advocacy of individual decision-making over the self. The famous 'Harm Principle' is also articulated in this work: people can do anything they like as long as it does not harm others. All branches of liberalism—as well as other political ideologies—consider this to be one of their core principles. However, they often disagree on what exactly constitutes harm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Liberty Mar 16 08, 5:11 PM

Baloo55th

To give examples, imagine being gay in Iran, a Bush supporter in North Korea, or wanting to set up as a pork butcher in Saudi Arabia. Incidentally, the system of upbringing that John Stuart Mill underwent would probably incur the displeasure of the child protection agencies and education authorities nowadays. Look at http://www.utilitarianism.com/jsmill.htm and the link to Autobiography Mar 17 08, 7:26 AM