# Resolved: Governments that succeed in fixing elections are, by definition, popular. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 5, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-governments-that-succeed-in-fixing-elections-are-by-definition-popular/700425 "2014-10-05T00:41:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 8
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-governments-that-succeed-in-fixing-elections-are-by-definition-popular/700425/8 "2014-10-05T22:15:30Z")
> [@RIP Mohsen Amir-Aslani](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mohsen-amir-aslani/700411/27): > > The U.S. itself has had at least four Presidential elections in which the loser of the popular vote was elected President, the most recent in 2000. > [@RIP Mohsen Amir-Aslani](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mohsen-amir-aslani/700411/83): > > Are you sure you know what the word “popular” means? Because it doesn’t mean “overwhelmingly popular” or “most popular”. Red Hot Chili Peppers is a popular band, but they aren’t beloved by over 50% of the population, for example. The iPhone is a popular phone, but it doesn’t have 51%+ of the market for cel phones. > > Popular doesn’t mean “most people support it”, it just means a lot of people support it. In the context of this discussion, which is about an election, “popular” means “gets more than 50% of the votes”. Go back and read the whole beginning of that thread. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-governments-that-succeed-in-fixing-elections-are-by-definition-popular/700425)._