--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Majority rule rests on numbers; democracy…" description: "\"Majority rule rests on numbers; democracy rests on the well-grounded assumption that society is neither a collection of units nor an organism but a net..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/mary-parker-follett-7967_assumption_majority-rule-rests-on-numbers-democracy_2515677.jpg" --- # Majority rule rests on numbers; democracy rests on the… ![“Majority rule rests on numbers; democracy rests on the well-grounded assumption that society is neither a collection of units nor an organism but a network of human relations.” quote by Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/mary-parker-follett-7967_assumption_majority-rule-rests-on-numbers-democracy_2515677.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/mary-parker-follett-7967_assumption_majority-rule-rests-on-numbers-democracy_2515677.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/mary-parker-follett-7967_assumption_majority-rule-rests-on-numbers-democracy_2515677.jpg) > “Majority rule rests on numbers; democracy rests on the well-grounded assumption that society is neither a collection of units nor an organism but a network of human relations.” [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Democracy is not just majority voting; it’s a network of relationships where individuals are interdependent, not isolated units. **In simple terms:** Democracy relies on relational networks. Key Takeaway Foster relational democracy. Themes politics social theory networking Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - community organizing - team decision-making - public policy Key Concepts systems thinking collective intelligence Questions to Reflect On - How to ensure all voices are heard? - What structures support relational democracy? A Different Perspective Complex networks can dilute individual voice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Human relations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-relations/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Majority rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/majority-rule/) [Organisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organisms/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [The U.S. corporate media, otherwise known as the "free press," is that hollow pillar on which contemporary American democracy rests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/the-u-s-corporate-media-otherwise-known-as-the-free-press-is-that/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“American democracy rests on a foundation of competing tensions among local, state, and federal laws,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-koppel/american-democracy-rests-on-a-foundation-of-competing-tensions-among/) [Ted Koppel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-koppel/) > [Democracy rests upon two pillars: one, the principle that all men are equally entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-d-brandeis/democracy-rests-upon-two-pillars-one-the-principle-that-all-men-are/) [Louis D. Brandeis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-d-brandeis/) > [A fatal defect in majority rule is that by its very nature it abolishes itself. Majority rule must inevitably become minority rule: the majority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/a-fatal-defect-in-majority-rule-is-that-by-its-very-nature-it/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [Economic freedom is in our eyes a good. It is among the highest of temporal goods because it is necessary to the highest life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/economic-freedom-is-in-our-eyes-a-good-it-is-among-the-highest-of/) [Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/) > [Ants offer special advantages for some important kinds of basic biological research. The colony is a superorganism. It can be analyzed as a coherent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-holldobler/ants-offer-special-advantages-for-some-important-kinds-of-basic/) [Bert Holldobler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-holldobler/) > [The biochemistry and biophysics are the notes required for life; they conspire, collectively, to generate the real unit of life, the organism. The intermediate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-goodenough/the-biochemistry-and-biophysics-are-the-notes-required-for-life-they/) [Ursula Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-goodenough/) > [The principal result of my investigation is that a uniform developmental principle controls the individual elementary units of all organisms, analogous to the finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-schwann/the-principal-result-of-my-investigation-is-that-a-uniform/) Theodor Schwann > [The messages that DNA molecules contain are all but eternal when seen against the time scale of individual lifetimes. The lifetimes of DNA messages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-messages-that-dna-molecules-contain-are-all-but-eternal-when-seen/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Can you imagine anything so ridiculous as majority rule?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daffy-duck/can-you-imagine-anything-so-ridiculous-as-majority-rule/) [Daffy Duck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daffy-duck/) > ["All government in essence," says Emerson, "is tyranny." It matters not whether it is government by divine right or majority rule. In every instance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/all-government-in-essence-says-emerson-is-tyranny-it-matters-not/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Imagine if all of life were determined by majority rule. Every meal would be a pizza. Every pair of pants, even those in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/imagine-if-all-of-life-were-determined-by-majority-rule-every-meal/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [ The young \[Nazi\] movement is in its nature and inner organization anti-parliamentarian; that is, it rejects... a principle of majority rule in which the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-young-nazi-movement-is-in-its-nature-and-inner-organization-anti/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [The justification of majority rule in politics is not to be found in its ethical superiority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/the-justification-of-majority-rule-in-politics-is-not-to-be-found-in/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [Before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/before-i-can-live-with-other-folks-i-ve-got-to-live-with-myself-the/) [Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/) ## More by Mary Parker Follett > [Many people tell me what I ought to do and just how I ought to do it, but Few have made me want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/many-people-tell-me-what-i-ought-to-do-and-just-how-i-ought-to-do-it/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [We are not wholly patriotic when we are working with all our heart for America merely; we are truly patriotic only when we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/we-are-not-wholly-patriotic-when-we-are-working-with-all-our-heart/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [One of the greatest values of controversy is its revealing nature. The real issues at stake come into the open and have the possibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/one-of-the-greatest-values-of-controversy-is-its-revealing-nature-the/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [Now that we are recognizing more fully the value of the individual, now that management is defining more exactly the function of each, many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/now-that-we-are-recognizing-more-fully-the-value-of-the-individual/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [Law should seek far more than mere reconciliation; it should be one of the great creative forces of our social life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/law-should-seek-far-more-than-mere-reconciliation-it-should-be-one-of/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [It is always the sign of the second-rate man when the decision merely meets the present situation. It is the left-over in a decision…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/it-is-always-the-sign-of-the-second-rate-man-when-the-decision-merely/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [... good intentions are not sufficient to solve our problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/good-intentions-are-not-sufficient-to-solve-our-problems/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [Another idea that is changing is that the leader must be one who can make quick decisions. The leader to-day is often one who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/another-idea-that-is-changing-is-that-the-leader-must-be-one-who-can/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [Leader and followers are both following the invisible leader-the common purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/leader-and-followers-are-both-following-the-invisible-leader-the/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [I am convinced that any feeling of exaltation because we have people under us should be conquered, for I am sure that if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/i-am-convinced-that-any-feeling-of-exaltation-because-we-have-people/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [I do not think that we have psychological and ethical and economic problems. We have human problems, with psychological, ethical and economical aspects, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/i-do-not-think-that-we-have-psychological-and-ethical-and-economic/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [An order then should always be given not as a personal matter, not because the man giving it wants the thing done, but because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/an-order-then-should-always-be-given-not-as-a-personal-matter-not/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [Idealism and realism meet in the actual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/idealism-and-realism-meet-in-the-actual/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim. We attain unity only through variety. Differences must be integrated, not annihilated, not absorbed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/unity-not-uniformity-must-be-our-aim-we-attain-unity-only-through/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) > [Democracy is not brute numbers; it is a genuine union of true individuals...the essence of democracy is creating. The technique of democracy is group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/democracy-is-not-brute-numbers-it-is-a-genuine-union-of-true/) [Mary Parker Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) [Explore all 85 Mary Parker Follett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/) ## More Assumption quotes > [Next to the assumption of power was the responsibility of relinquishing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/next-to-the-assumption-of-power-was-the-responsibility-of/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of the people ever really get the word about life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/it-s-difficult-for-people-to-come-to-the-understanding-that-only-a/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) Richard Doll > [Fortunately, the mind is restless; when it uncovers a layer of its own deception, gives up an illusion, exposes a lie, it does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-chernin/fortunately-the-mind-is-restless-when-it-uncovers-a-layer-of-its-own/) [Kim Chernin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-chernin/) > [The possibility of saying anything about a thing rests on the assumption that it preserves its identity, or continues to be the same thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-knight/the-possibility-of-saying-anything-about-a-thing-rests-on-the/) [Frank Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-knight/) > [She spent hours drawing on her own, trying to perfect her craft. And when she got into music, she had that same diligence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/she-spent-hours-drawing-on-her-own-trying-to-perfect-her-craft-and/) [Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/) > [If they are, then the only ultimate truths are the particulars of concrete experience, and no postulate or general assumption is inherent in science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-wright/if-they-are-then-the-only-ultimate-truths-are-the-particulars-of/) [Chauncey Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-wright/) > [If he's - the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a - is a noble institution I would - I would strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-he-s-the-inference-is-that-somehow-he-thinks-slavery-is-a-is-a/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Leadership, pure and simple, is the assumption of responsibility for the pursuit of excellence in group life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-selznick/leadership-pure-and-simple-is-the-assumption-of-responsibility-for/) Philip Selznick > [Humans suffer from self-centred notions as to the nature of life. Humans assume that alien life forms should conform to standards that match our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-perry/humans-suffer-from-self-centred-notions-as-to-the-nature-of-life/) [Steve Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-perry/) > [When I see a fan coming over, I can't help but make an assumption about what they want to talk about. A middle-aged American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/when-i-see-a-fan-coming-over-i-can-t-help-but-make-an-assumption/) [Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/) > [The Bell curve is a fact of life. The blacks on average score 85 per cent on IQ and it is accurate, nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/the-bell-curve-is-a-fact-of-life-the-blacks-on-average-score-85-per/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [Pussy Riot have certainly changed some people's assumptions about the role of political art and the relationship between the intelligentsia and the church. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/pussy-riot-have-certainly-changed-some-people-s-assumptions-about-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) [Browse all 1,277 Assumption quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Majority rule rests on numbers; democracy rests on the well-grounded assumption that society is neither a collection of units nor an organism but a network of human relations.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Parker Follett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/majority-rule-rests-on-numbers-democracy-rests-on-the-well-grounded/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Assumption" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/majority-rule-rests-on-numbers-democracy-rests-on-the-well-grounded/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/mary-parker-follett-7967_assumption_majority-rule-rests-on-numbers-democracy_2515677.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/mary-parker-follett-7967_assumption_majority-rule-rests-on-numbers-democracy_2515677.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ead/mary-parker-follett-7967_assumption_majority-rule-rests-on-numbers-democracy_2515677.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Majority rule rests on numbers; democracy rests on the well-grounded assumption that society is neither a…” — Mary Parker Follett", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mary Parker Follett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-parker-follett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Majority rule rests on numbers; democracy...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/majority-rule-rests-on-numbers-democracy-rests-on-the-well-grounded/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-parker-follett/majority-rule-rests-on-numbers-democracy-rests-on-the-well-grounded/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```