Knowledge Atlas · Reference
Glossary & ontology
Terms are defined once and translated with care — terminology must survive translation intact.
M
- Majority rule
- A decision rule under which the option preferred by more than half of those voting prevails. With two options it is the only rule that is anonymous, neutral and positively responsive (May's theorem).
- Mandatory referendum
- A popular vote that must be held automatically when a defined kind of decision is proposed, without any petition.
- Median voter theorem
- When voters choose by majority rule on one issue dimension and have single-peaked preferences, the option preferred by the median voter beats every alternative in a head-to-head vote.
- Micronation
- A self-declared entity that claims to be a sovereign state but is not recognised by established states.
- Mini-public
- A deliberative body, such as a citizens' assembly, chosen to be a small-scale representative sample of the public.
- Mixed constitution
- A constitution that combines monarchic, aristocratic and democratic elements so that each can check the others.
- Mixed government
- A constitution that combines elements of monarchy, aristocracy and democracy so that no single group can dominate; also called a mixed constitution.
- Mutual criticism
- The Oneida Community's practice in which a member sat silently while the whole community or a committee listed their faults, used as its main instrument of discipline and cohesion.
- Mutualism
- A form of anarchism associated with Proudhon, in which individuals and groups exchange products on the basis of mutually agreed contracts and mutual credit, without exploitation or a coercive state.