According to John Locke, the legitimacy of a governmental structure is determined by whether or not it is established and maintained with the consent of the governed. In other words, a government’s power is only valid if “we the people” say so. This creates a double-edged sword of sorts.

On the one hand, a legitimate government would conduct its affairs in a manner consistent with the desires of its people.

On the other hand, the people themselves are imperfect and are therefore incapable of designing a system that is truly perfect.

One of the greatest flaws with the idea of a perfect government is that it assumes that the people think as a collective with the same motives and reasoning, rather than as individuals with different levels and combinations of both motivation and reasoning.

With the search for the next best thing comes the idea of “Majority