supermajority
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A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority, the latter sometimes expressed as a vote". Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fundamental rights of a minority, but can also hamper efforts to respond to problems and encourage corrupt compromises at times when action is taken. Changes to constitutions, especially those with entrenched clauses, commonly require supermajority support in a legislature. In consensus democracy, the supermajority
~34 min read
Article
48 sectionsContents
- History
- Common thresholds of supermajority
- Three-fifths, or 60 percent
- 55%
- Use in parliamentary procedure
- Use in governments around the world
- Australia
- Bangladesh
- Canada
- Czech republic
- Denmark
- European Union
- Council
- Parliament
- Finland
- India
- Italy
- Japan
- New Zealand
- Nigeria
- Philippines
- Poland
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Legislation
- Impeachment
- Judicial review
- Constitutional amendments
- Spain
- Constitutional reform
- Other legal procedures
- Autonomous communities
- Taiwan
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- Legislative veto
- Constitutional amendments
- United Kingdom
- UK Parliament
- Devolved parliaments
- Local authorities
- United Nations
- United States
- Federal government
- State government
- International agreements
- See also
- References
A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority, the latter sometimes expressed as a vote". Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fundamental rights of a minority, but can also hamper efforts to respond to problems and encourage corrupt compromises at times when action is taken. Changes to constitutions, especially those with entrenched clauses, commonly require supermajority support in a legislature. In consensus democracy, the supermajority rule is applied in most cases.
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