What Is The Definition Of Democracy?

On November 4, 2008 voters in California approved Proposition 8 with 52.2% of the vote. The proposition's language was simple: it added a clause to the state's constitution affirming that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in the state of California". Now U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker has ruled that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, and that gay people should have the right to marry--immediately.

No matter what one's position on gay marriage may be, this ruling is scary. It's one thing for a court to overturn a lower court's ruling, or even to consider a state law as unconstitutional--as has recently been done with Arizona's illegal immigration law. But for a judge to assert his own ideology in direct conflict with the majority will of the people in a state-wide constitutional referendum is astounding.

If the vote of the people can be overturned by a single judge, what kind of democracy do we really have after all? Webster's defines democracy as "a system of government based on the principle of majority decision-making". Proposition 8 was most certainly not a referendum which was decided in the dark of night. It was a huge issue in California, debated for months before the vote--and timed to coincide with the Presidential election of 2008, which drew more voters in California than at any time since 1968. To that end, it's indisputable that, with regard to majority decision-making, the majority spoke clearly.

But that majority's voice has now been abrogated by the sole opinion of one judge. And that should send shudders up the spine of every Californian.