Your comment about "having a vocal minority successfuly shout down dissenting opinions" reminds me of this article I just read by Nassim Taleb (Skin in The Game) which covers "how once an intransigent minority reaches a tiny percentage of the total population, the majority of the population will naturally succumb to their preferences:"
https://nassimtaleb.org/2016/08/intolerant-wins-dictatorship...