The Times Poll That Found Support for Toll Roads in Orange County--Is the Majority Always Right?

Developers and supporters of the Orange County toll roads breathed a sigh of relief when a Times poll Feb. 24 showed that 58% of Orange County residents support the proposed toll roads. “Thank goodness,” government officials must have thought, “I’ll be able to rely on this poll to justify my support for these projects.”

Of course, had the poll shown a majority in opposition to the polls, officials would have immediately discounted the results.

Let’s assume that this poll accurately captures support for the toll roads. This still leaves elected officials with two perplexing questions characteristic of representative democracy.

First, is the majority always right? Of course it’s not, and that’s why America’s constitutional tradition has made it particularly difficult for majorities to form and govern. Madison and Tocqueville’s concern about the “tyranny of the majority” reveals an awareness that majorities can be dangerous to the interests of the minority and that they can be mistaken about what is in the public’s interest.

Modern polling makes it possible for decision makers to “create” majorities when none may actually exist. This leads to the illusion, produced through the artifact of a survey, that a majority of citizens may truly have an opinion on one matter or another.

In different words, a healthy percentage of any so-called “silent majority” may truly be silent. Their authentic acquiescence, apathy or ambivalence about a policy matter cannot be overcome by an opinion survey. Toll road policy-makers cannot depend upon an opinion poll majority to justify whatever decisions they might reach. Decisions must still be justified on their merits.

Second, assuming we know what it is, should the will of the majority always prevail? Majority rule justified on the grounds that it rests on superior force (of numbers) is commonly accepted in practice and is both a logical and pragmatic means for reaching decisions.

However, it is not the only way to make public decisions in a representative democracy. Decision making by consensus involves agreement that approaches or achieves unanimity, usually through extended public deliberation in which a revealed common ground serves as the basis for decisions among all affected parties. Alternatively, the doctrine of a concurrent majority proposes that all democratic decisions should be made only with the concurrence of all major segments of society.

Instead of decisions based on constructed majorities, toll road decision makers might try to develop a consensus among affected parties or, in the process of designing public policy, give special weight to the interests of those who feel most strongly about the issue.

MARK P. PETRACCA, Irvine