In trying to minimize the political damage caused by the instability in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. government officials often state that a majority of Iraqis and Afghans, if not Americans, support the Coalition’s endeavors in their respective countries. They sometimes refer to these supposed supporters as “the silent majority,” a term former President Richard Nixon (1969-1974) coined to blunt criticism of his Vietnam policy.

Politicians like terms which are catchy, easy to remember, and convey a positive message when trying to sell unpopular policies in the face of determined and growing opposition. Who is to say what a majority of people think in any given situation? Polls give us an idea, but their samplings are very small and the results are not necessarily precise.

But, you know what? It doesn’t really matter what a majority of people think. Why? Because, throughout history, majorities have never determined anything politically. It is always a big enough, determined, well-led minority which participates in the political process that influences public policy. After all, it was Samuel Adams who observed “… it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.”

Majorities are silent for a reason: most people are apolitical; they don’t participate in politics. Why? The reasons vary, but it doesn’t matter. If you don’t participate, you are irrelevant and don’t count. Historically, majorities are either uninterested in the political process or intimidated into accepting the status quo. They go along to get along. Like a herd of cattle, majorities go where those in power lead regardless of morality, legality, or, in some cases, even survival. (We’ve all heard the rationalizations: “It won’t happen to me,” or “I’ll be dead by then, so why worry.”) They are either ignorant of or intentionally disregard Plato’s warning that “The penalty men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

For example, historians disagree on how many colonial Americans supported or were even sympathetic to the American Revolution. Estimates run from a low of eight percent to a high of 33 percent. Regardless, even if the higher figure is accurate, it doesn’t come near to a majority. It was the determination of those who supported the Revolution combined with excellent leadership and French intervention that turned the tide. The same is true of slavery and alcohol prohibition. Minorities imposed these conditions; the majority of Americans tolerated them.

One of the most contentious issues of the late 20th century was the turnover of the Panama Canal to Panama. In a NewsMax.com/Zogby International poll released in mid-December 1999, nearly 50 percent of Americans opposed the turnover of the Panama Canal scheduled for December 31, 1999 in accordance with a treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1978. Only 29 percent of respondents were in favor. The U.S. turned over control of the canal on schedule. The minority view had won again.

Polls consistently show that a vast majority of Americans oppose foreign aid. A poll published in April 2010 indicated 71 percent of those polled favored the elimination or reduction of such aid. Yet, foreign aid continues and was recently expanded by President Obama and the then Democratic controlled Congress. A CBS poll released in early May 2011 showed that Americans opposed a raise in the federal debt limit by over 2 to 1 (63 opposed to 27 in favor). Congress raised the limit despite this opposition. Indications are that far more Americans oppose the income tax than support it. Though there has been a lot of talk since the early 1990s of pulling the income tax up by the roots and dismissing its IRS enforcers, we are no closer to that happening now than we were then. So much for majority rule.

Gandhi understood this phenomenon. His goal was not to influence a majority of Indians to his cause, but to remove the consent of enough of the governed to collapse British colonial rule in India. How many? Enough yeast to make the dough rise.

Today, sociologists recognize that when three to five percent of the opinion makers in a society propagate an idea, no matter how absurd, in time the majority, like lemmings, will accept and incorporate it.

So the next time someone tells you that despite whatever happens in any given situation, a majority of people support this or that politician, policy, idea, plan, or whatever, you can reply with confidence, so what!