Dictionnaire Constitutionnel

Authors: Duhamel & Mény
Summary: In about 900 words, the entry gives three definitions of the term majority. Firstly, it means the status of legal age. Secondly, it means a group which can impose its will by virtue of its number, which is either greater than some other (relative majority), or greater than the half of the expressed votes (absolute majority) or greater than a certain threshold (qualified majority). Lastly, majority can refer, in parliamentary regimes, to the party or the coalition of parties that has the greatest number of seats in Parliament and thus supports the government.
After comparing the articles that discipline the relationship between the Assembl‚e Nationale and the executive in the French constitutions of the 4th and 5th republic, the authors point out the peculiarity of semi-presidential systems, where parliamentary majority may differ from the majority supporting the government as in Mitterrand's mandate.
The second part of the entry addresses normative questions arising from the majority rule in democratic systems, viz the protection of minorities and whether and to what extent political majority represents the expectations of civil society. To conclude, stable democracy, it is argued, requires decision making institutions that respect pluralism and ensure political accountability.
The entry is then followed by specifications of the term majority, such as electoral majority, parliamentary majority, and majority opinion.