The Conditions for Majoritarian Obligation: Majority Rule and Deliberative Body

Considering one of Georg Simmel’s questions, the article examines what gives an authority to an outnumbering superiority in a situation of a collective decision. Actually there are three conditions in that matter. First, the majority obligation for a collection of individuals’ decisions is possible only if this body is a deliberative body that is to say a collective entity but not a mere collection of individuals. Second, the stake of the decision must not challenge the members’ liking for this collective entity. Finally, to have a legitimate majority, the aggregation of preferences must be reached after a deliberation, thus stressing there might have been other preferences. If the preferences are the same or do not result from the deliberative body’s deliberation, the collective decision looks like a shared decision, a fair one is wished. The rule of the majority is not relevant any longer.