The citizens of a free nation may disagree about the specific legal procedures
or methods of implementing their rights (which is a complex problem, the
province of political science and of the philosophy of law), but they agree on
the basic principle to be implemented: the principle of individual rights. When
a country’s constitution places individual rights outside the reach of public
authorities, the sphere of political power is severely delimited—and thus the
citizens may, safely and properly, agree to abide by the decisions of a
majority vote in this delimited sphere. The lives and property of minorities or
dissenters are not at stake, are not subject to vote and are not endangered by
any majority decision; no man or group holds a blank check on power over
others.