Inverted Democracy: Hobbes and the Question of Majority Rule

Although Hobbes was not a democrat, he assigned an important role to majority rule in his work, since such rule allowed collective choices in assemblies. However, Hobbes denied that it would be possible to base sovereignty’s legitimacy on majority rule. As a matter of fact, the foundation of sovereignty was not based on election but on contract, i.e., on unanimity. The aim of this paper is to suggest a way of understanding that position.