This expression has two meanings:

1. A polite description of mob rule at the expense of individual rights, particularly in matters of conscience or religion.

2. The use of a majority vote to overrule or disenfranchise dissenters.

This has long been a talking point in terms of the application of majority rule as practiced by modern democracies, in which the majority is seen as denying rights to the minority, with no mid point. Advocates of majority rule claim that the majority has the greater entitlement to deciding a vote by definition. Opponents state that the majority may have its rights, but the minority in disagreement can't exercise theirs. The issues are always complex, and often acrimonious.