Is There Such a Thing as the Tyranny of the Majority?

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E, he's a vulgar man. That's what i think essentially defined him. And reminds us of just how vulgar democracy is. Democracy isn't on its own refined or cultivated. He got his opportunity because of primaries. If we chose our candidates for the president in conventions and smoke filled rooms, as we used to, they wouldn't have come up with donald trump. So increasing democratization means forgetting that there is such a thing as the tyranny of the majority.

Harvey Mansfield is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. One of the old guard of American conservative thought, he has taught at Harvard since 1962, and counts among his former students Andrew Sullivan, Francis Fukuyama, and Bill Kristol.

In this week’s conversation, Harvey Mansfield and Yascha Mounk discuss the nature of American liberalism, Donald Trump’s effect on conservatism, and Alexis de Tocqueville’s enduring relevance.

This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

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