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If you were a minority group that ruled over the majority, how would you keep yourself in power?

User Natwar Singh
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2 Answers

16 votes
16 votes

Final answer:

A minority group in power could maintain control over the majority through policies that secure influence, establishing legal frameworks, and controlling societal narratives. Historical examples include colonialism and apartheid, showcasing the exertion of minority control over majorities. Concurrently, true representative democracies and civil rights movements can work to ensure minority protections and challenge such power imbalances.

Step-by-step explanation:

If I were a minority group in power ruling over the majority, several strategies could be employed to maintain control. Looking at historical precedents and political theory, these strategies often involve both institutional mechanisms and social policies that together establish a hegemonic control of society.

Firstly, by enacting policies that solidify the minority's influence, and possibly suppress the majority's political engagement, such as through voter eligibility restrictions or limiting access to offices of power. Secondly, legal frameworks may be established to embed the minority's power in law, which can sometimes claim the right to rule by constructing legal justifications for domination over the majority. Lastly, controlling the narrative and ideology of a society is crucial; this can involve influencing educational content, media outlets, and public discourse to perpetuate values that justify the minority's ruling status.

In the context of majoritarianism, where the majority decides societal rules, being in a minority ruling position often requires strategies that bypass majority needs to sustain control. Historical examples of this dynamic include the colonial dominance of a small number of countries over a large portion of the world's population or apartheid in South Africa, where a minority wielded power over a majority.

It's important to remember that a well-functioning, representative democracy should protect the rights of minorities and mitigate the risk of majoritarian abuse. Additionally, civil rights movements show how concerted efforts and advocacy by minorities can work towards social change and challenge entrenched power structures.

User LeonG
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20 votes
20 votes

Answer:

I'd have scientists genetically modify the food to make the majority weak while feeding them brainwashing anti*insert whatever I don't like* through the news and hollywood. I'd call anyone that dislikes what I'm doing as anti*my minority group*or a terrorist. I'd rewrite history to make them seem like the bad guys and make them hate themselves, take away their freedoms of speech, expression, and weapons, implement a massive trickle down system where the money from the taxpayers(which I'd tax heavily for everything) that starts at the top, giving us all the money we want while leaving the rest of society to be poor and full of nothing but workers with the sole task of doing what I want. I'd destroy any form of nationalism or love for the country and leave them feeling hopeless and lost. I'd make it to where if anyone wants to migrate from my country, they'll have to have an extended passport that only lasts for a while and then they have to come back, etc. alot of things i could do and some of these have already happened.

Step-by-step explanation:

User Cognophile
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