Bush's permanent Republican majority lasted six years.

But the best guess is that the permanent Republican majority will end in a little over three weeks.

Nor can democracy be expected to work smoothly in a society with rigid divisions, producing a permanent majority and a permanent minority.

It wasn't so long ago the Republicans were crowing about a "permanent majority," with Democrats relegated to a beleaguered regional party.

And just maybe the opposite of the neocons' intended results - a permanent Democratic majority.

But when the storms passed, it was back to the same old project: building a permanent conservative majority.

It was only a few years ago that Karl Rove was talking about a "permanent Republican majority," right?

Rather than accept a permanent Liberal majority, the Conservative Lords yielded, and the bill became law.

Communist parties held permanent majorities in all of these legislatures.

But a politician needs a permanent campaign to keep a permanent majority.