Concept in Definition ABC

The word quorum comes from Latin and etymologically means of whom or of whom. The term quorum is used to refer to the minimum number of people required to reach an agreement in the context of deliberation (for example to make a decision politics between members of a parliament).

In its historical origin a complete phrase was used, exactly Quorum praesentia sufficit (which could be translated as the presence of the assistants is sufficient). However, instead of using the full form, the word quorum ended up expressing the full meaning.

Each institution set in your regulation internal what type of quorum should be applied in order to make a decision. In this sense, the minimum number of people used to reach an agreement can be highly variable.

The idea of ​​a quorum is based on the convenience that the number of participants in an assembly must be significant enough

Consider an assembly made up of 100 members with right voting, but that in a meeting there were only 25 members and the statutes established that the quorum must exceed thirty percent of the total (in this case there would be no quorum, as 25 members is less than thirty percent of the total Assembly). This example allows us to understand why some meetings or assemblies cannot be held. In this way, the lack of a quorum implies the need for a new convocation. If a meeting were held without a sufficient quorum, the meeting would not comply with the

legality and it would be invalid.

What is the quorum for?

The previous explanation allows us to understand that the quorum is used to start a session. In this sense, it is a regulatory mechanism that prevents an insufficient number of people from making decisions for the majority. In this way, the quorum acts as a democratic guarantee.

In the parliamentary representation of each nation there is a normative specific on the necessary quorum in the chambers of popular representation (in most countries the quorum is reached with half plus one of the members).

It is logical that less than half of the representatives is considered insufficient to achieve a quorum, since the democracy is based on the government majority (and the concept of majority in democracy consists of half the representation plus one). It would not make sense that fewer than fifty percent of the representatives were sufficient to represent one hundred percent of the citizens.

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