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Hans Kelsen examines the majority principle from the transformation of the natural freedom into civil freedom according to Rousseau. The majority rule turns out to give an estimate of self-government, insofar as the majority rule maximizes the number of those whose individual will coincides with the collective will. It is even better than unanimity or super majority. The majority decision satisfies best both the ideals of freedom and equality. Furthermore, the use of the majority rule fits a type of personality seeking compromise and respect for the minority. Eventually, behind democracy and the majority decision, relativistics can be understood. In other words, this philosophy by Kelsen explains that as access to truths or absolute values seem to be out of reach, people accept the majority decision quite easily. Adapted from the source document.

Este artículo de Kelsen apareció en la revista Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik en 1915 y constituye una crítica al libro de E. Ehrlich Fundamentación de la sociología del derecho (München und Leipzig, Dunker U. Humboldt, 1913).

What is Pure Theory of Law ?
The text of Kelsen translated here dates from 1953. It therefore falls squarely between the two editions of his Pure Theory of Law (1934 and 1960). In this article, Kelsen re-examines the essential theses of his theory in an effort to demonstrate the structural specificity demanded by any valid theory of law, contrasting it to ethics and politics, as well as to the natural sciences grounded in principles of causality.