Between legal tradition and political practice. Decisions by majority vote in north-central Italian communes and a few thoughts for comparison with the universitates of Peninsular southern Italy (twelfth-thirteenth centuries)

A political expedient long before (and far more than) a legal norm, the majority principle seems to have appeared naturally since the beginning of the communal experience in central-northern Italy. Its applications, however, in specific moments and contexts of deliberation, are far from unequivocal; they often end up being confused with the theoretically opposed principle of unanimitas and seem to leave room for qualitative - rather than merely quantitative - evaluations of the votes cast in the council. is it possible to define the most controversial fields of application of this principle? What arguments do the contemporary reflections of jurists offer, and what repercussions do they have in the concrete application of a political practice that seems solely interested in avoiding decision-making stasis?