Minority rights derive from basic international law on human rights, as well as specific treaties and declarations on minority rights, notably the UN Declaration on the Rights of All Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Linguistic and Religious Minorities (UNDM).

Majority Rule. A system in which the decision of more than half the people is accepted by all. Minority Rights. A principle of traditional democratic theory that guarantees rights to those who do not belong to majorities.

In every genuine democracy today, majority rule is both endorsed and limited by the supreme law of the constitution, which protects the rights of individuals. Majority rule is limited in order to protect minority rights, because if it were unchecked it probably would be used to oppress persons holding unpopular views.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Beyond.

Definition. A minority or minority group is a subgroup of the population with unique social, religious, ethnic, racial, and/or other characteristics that differ from those of a majority group.

Louis Wirth defined a minority group as “a group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination”.

The numbers showed that the Hispanic population of the United States had increased by 4.7 percent since the last count, officially making Hispanics the largest minority group in the country.

At the federal level, no minority government (excepting the odd case of the 14th) has lasted a standard four-year term. Most minority governments have lasted less than two years.