dcrocker(_at_)bbiw(_dot_)net
a "majority rule-> a "simple majority rule"
Majorities come in different forms or degrees and the fact that 'rough
consensus' is often taken to mean 67% or 75%, as a rule of thumb can
make this confusing.
From what you've written, your basic point seems to be that 51% isn't
enough; it's worth making that explicit.
To add to the confusion, and to emphasise the point about making clear, British
and American English differ here. If three proposals (not the most common case,
I agree, but it can happen) have 45%, 35% and 20% of the votes, the first of
these has a majority, sometimes emphasised as simple majority, in British
English. (We do not - to our loss - use the word plurality. Just 51% is given
the strong term absolute majority.) I haven't checked the context here, but
saying not just a simple majority might suggest to a British English user that
51% is enough.
--
Christopher Dearlove
Senior Principal Engineer, Communications Group
Communications, Networks and Image Analysis Capability
BAE Systems Advanced Technology Centre
West Hanningfield Road, Great Baddow, Chelmsford, CM2 8HN, UK
Tel: +44 1245 242194 | Fax: +44 1245 242124
chris(_dot_)dearlove(_at_)baesystems(_dot_)com | http://www.baesystems.com
BAE Systems (Operations) Limited
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Farnborough, Hants, GU14 6YU, UK
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