Majority

This article is about the mathematical concept of majority. For other uses, see Majority (disambiguation).

A majority is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset considered; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset considered may consist of less than half the set's elements. In British English, majority and plurality are often used as synonyms, and the term majority is also alternatively used to refer to the winning margin, i.e. the number of votes separating the first-place finisher from the second-place finisher.

A majority may be called a simple majority to contrast with other types of majority: an overall majority, in parliamentary systems, is the difference of legislators between the government and its opposition; an absolute majority is a majority of all electors, not just those who voted; and a supermajority is a stronger majority than a simple majority.

Example

Suppose that Tennessee is holding an election on the location of its capital. The population is concentrated around four major cities. All voters want the capital to be as close to them as possible. The options are:

• Memphis, the largest city, but far from the others (42% of voters)
• Nashville, near the center of the state (26% of voters)
• Chattanooga, somewhat east (15% of voters)
• Knoxville, far to the northeast (17% of voters)

The preferences of each region's voters are:

42% of voters Far-West	26% of voters Center	15% of voters Center-East	17% of voters Far-East
Memphis Nashville Chattanooga Knoxville	Nashville Chattanooga Knoxville Memphis	Chattanooga Knoxville Nashville Memphis	Knoxville Chattanooga Nashville Memphis

Here, Memphis has a plurality (42%) of the first preferences, but not a majority. We can contrast this by looking at the fourth preferences, where the majority of voters (58%) have placed Memphis last. In all single-winner voting systems apart from the simple plurality voting, Memphis will lose as a majority of voters do not want the city as capital.

Parliamentary rules

In parliamentary procedure, the term 'majority' refers to "more than half." As it relates to a vote, a majority is more than half of the votes cast (noting that an abstention is simply the refusal to vote). The definition of "majority vote" can differ, however, from one parliamentary authority to another. Robert's Rules of Order defines a majority as being more than one half of the votes cast including votes for ineligible candidates or choices. The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (abbreviated TSC) defines a majority as being more than half all eligible votes cast.

For example, assume that votes are cast for three people for an office: Alice and Bob, who are eligible; and Carol, who is ineligible.

Candidate	Votes
Alice	9
Bob	8
Carol	3
Total	20

By Robert's Rules of Order, no candidate has been elected as no candidate gained 11 votes. However, by The Standard Code, Alice is elected as she gained more than half of the seventeen eligible votes.

In politics, political voting systems, and even in parliamentary procedure in some cases, there are several different popular concepts relating to a majority:

• Simple majority
• Supermajority
• Absolute majority
• Two-thirds majority
• Relative majority
• Double majority - a majority of votes in a majority of states or jurisdictions.

See also

• Majority rule
• Majoritarianism
• Wipeout (elections)
• Types of Ballot Casting Election: Majority / Plurality / Blackballing