supermajority
(noun)
Any qualified majority, specified in advance of a vote, required for the vote to be passed.
Examples of supermajority in the following topics:
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Who Votes?
- For example, they may require that the proposal receive at least n positive votes and no negative votes, or that a supermajority vote in favor.
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Sunset Laws
- However, while a majority of the Senate favored the repeal, there was not a three-fifths supermajority in favor.
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How a Bill Becomes Law
- The legislature often has the power to override the veto of the executive by means of a supermajority.
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Popular Consent, Majority Rule, and Popular Sovereignty
- Most famously, it has been argued that majority rule might lead to a "tyranny of the majority," and the use of a supermajority and constitutional limits on government power have been recommended to mitigate these effects.
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The Vice Presidency
- While Senate customs have created supermajority rules that have diminished this constitutional power, the vice president still influences legislation.