Home / Library / Quotes / A Principle More Fundamental Than Democracy

Notable Quote

"That a majority, merely because it is a majority, should be entitled to apply to a minority a rule which does not apply to itself is an infringement of a principle much more fundamental than democracy itself, a principle on which the justification of democracy rests."

— Hayek, Friedrich event 1960

From The Constitution of Liberty (p. 314)

Context: From Chapter 20, "Taxation and Redistribution," of The Constitution of Liberty (1960), on progressive taxation as majority rule applied selectively to a minority.

Topics

groups Democracy payments Taxation shield Rule of Law balance Justice