Alternatives to Majority Rule approach to democracy?

[Dragonlady]

I argued with a friend that democracy is not limited to "majority rule"
but my friend insisted that was the definition. I said democracy means
rule by the people which can be based on consensus, or majority rule,
or 3/4 or 2/3 or any number of ways or standards on policy decisions.

Someone else asked what other alternatives are there to majority rule?

I listed some below.

Please add suggestions or comments on what you would recommend for govt reforms:

1. the Green Party supports Proportional Representation by Party, which a Libertarian friend suggested could be used to replace the Electoral College system of majority taking all

2. The Greens also support Consensus Decision making within their ranks, which I believe should be offered on all levels NOTE: by Combining 1 and 2, then people can be assured of party representation WITHIN a mediation process to reach consensus between groups on policy decisions

3. The Peace and Justice progressives have pushed for a PEACE department, where I suggested ADDING this to the Justice dept to create a Dept of Peace and Justice that includes the option of MEDIATION and consensus for people who believe in that standard

4. Other Libertarians support a Grand Jury system run directly by the people to bring complaints against govt abuses

5. OSHA has a system of issuing citations and holding hearings to resolve violations against a standard health and safety code: I support developing a civilian council or commission, modeled after the OSHA process, but based on standards of civil and Constitutional ethics www.ethics-commission.net

6. Christians and Restorative Justice believers advocate for consensus based decisions on corrections and restitution so this restores justice and working relations after wrongful damages.

7. I believe combining the Restorative Justice approach with Restitution for corporate and govt abuses, taxpayers can be reimbursed by investing credits into agreed solutions and reforms, while the wrongdoers are held to settlement plans to pay off the debts currently charged to taxpayers

8. Constitutionalists and Libertarians believe in using Conventions of States to vote on Amendments before authorizing govt to regulate anything, and do not believe in using Courts to make laws as Liberals do. I believe we can use the same Convention concept to hold conferences between Parties to decide what policies belong to govt, at which levels, or what programs should be funded and provided by Party or by State to accommodate citizens.

9. The President and VP used to be elected from the top 2 candidates, allowing multiple parties: I suggest dividing the Executive into TWO unconnected administrations for Internal/Domestic policies between States vs External/Security issues between nations, and allow parties/leaders to govern only areas that suit their beliefs, while setting up a national council for people to represent themselves by party to APPROVE what duties to delegate where.

10. The Cooperative system of democratizing districts would allow all Parties to set up their own agreed system of making decisions for their members. This is the closest I have found to allowing "isocracy" or equal empowerment of all people to represent themselves and make their own decisions by their own systems.

Your systems would work fine in small communities or "city states", but for a nation of 330 million people, it is completely unworkable. Half the citizens would be involved in local governments, grand juries, and other conventions or commissions.

But it would result in wildly unequal "peace and justice" throughout the nation, depending on the quality, dedication and personal biases of the individuals in charge.