Rights: Majority rule or Entrenched rights?

Where the library sits on this axis

The 112 written profiles are each stored with one value for this axis, written by hand. These are the ones furthest toward either end, and the ones closest to the middle.

These are editorial readings of the positions, not measurements of any party, movement or voter, and every vector is open to disagreement. Every profile, all three sets →

The statements that measure this axis

The question bank holds 10 statements for rights: 5 coded so that agreement counts toward Entrenched rights, and 5 coded the other way, toward Majority rule. The Short version draws 3 of them, Standard 5 and Deep 10.

• “Courts should be able to strike down laws that the majority clearly approved.” agreeing counts toward Entrenched rights
• “Judges who overrule elected legislatures undermine public trust.” agreeing counts toward Majority rule
• “Some rights are so fundamental that no majority can vote them away.” agreeing counts toward Entrenched rights
• “In a democracy, the will of the many should outweigh the objections of the few.” agreeing counts toward Majority rule
• “A written bill of rights is the best protection for unpopular minorities.” agreeing counts toward Entrenched rights
• “Public opinion, not judicial review, is the proper judge of a law.” agreeing counts toward Majority rule
• “Constitutional limits on power matter more than winning an election.” agreeing counts toward Entrenched rights
• “A determined majority should be able to change any law it dislikes.” agreeing counts toward Majority rule
• “Referendums should be able to overturn court rulings.” agreeing counts toward Majority rule
• “Entrenched rights are worth the friction they create.” agreeing counts toward Entrenched rights

How this axis is scored

Each statement is answered on a five-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. On this axis, 5 statements count agreement toward Entrenched rights and 5 count it toward Majority rule, so a run where you agree with everything does not drift to one end.

The two directions are averaged separately and then weighted equally, and the result is reported between −100 and +100: negative toward Majority rule, positive toward Entrenched rights. A statement you skip is not counted on this axis at all, so skipping never moves the score. Anything inside ±12 is recorded as centred rather than as a lean.

The same twelve values are what your result is matched against. How scoring works, in full →