Tyrannt of the Majority

[Keith Broaders]

Tyranny of the Majority

The most hotly contested debate at the Constitutional Convention was on how representatives in Congress would be chosen. The large states like Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts wanted the states to be represented based on their population while the small states wanted all of the states to be equally represented, Roger Sherman proposed the creation of a bicameral legislature with one house based on proportional representation and one house based on the equal representation of the states regardless of their population.

This compromise prevented the large states from completely dominating the small states. This same model was adopted by the states which created bicameral legislatures representing the the people and the counties.

This model prevented the large counties from completely dominating the small counties and demanded the consent of both the large and small counties in order to pass proposed legislation.

Before the Florida Constitution was re-written in 1968 all of the 67 counties were represented as well as the 6.4 million residents, As the result of a series of Supreme Court decisions the bicameral legislature of Florida became a unicameral legislature with two chambers representing the people. This turned our republican form of government into a democratic model where the tyranny of the majority would become the rule of the day.

In order to prevent the large metropolitan counties from dominating the small rural counties, we need to return to the original composition of our state legislature.