The Silent Majority: A Humean Perspective

Drawing upon English philosopher David Hume’s concept of conventions, this paper explores how traditional conventions were perceived by many Americans—the so-called Silent Majority—by urban riots, rising crime rates, black nationalism, and New Left radicals. As Hume argues in his History of England, challenges to established conventions (which he sees as social constructs) fail unless viable alternatives are offered by dissenters.  In the case of black nationalists and New Left radicals, vague concepts of “community control” and “participatory democracy” failed to provide for many Americans a viable alternative. At the same time liberal Democracts appeared to offer little either in protecting the established order other than defending Great Society social programs, which many Americans had rejected. This situation allowed Republicans such as Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon to win election on campaigns of “law and order.” While racially perhaps playing on racial stereotypes, “law and order” projected a code-word for “failed liberalism.” The paper explores in particular Reagan’s 1966 campaign for the governorship of California and Richard Nixon’s campaign for the presidency in 1968 and their use of “law and order.”