‘Democracy always comes first’: adolescents’ views on decision-making in everyday life and political democracy

Figures & data

Table 1. Classification of adolescents’ views on decision-making and core arguments provided by them.

	Majoritarian: little or no room for minority viewpoints	Majoritarian: room for minority viewpoints	Consensual	Deliberative
Number of respondents (N = 40)	13	13	9	5
Role of majority	Majority is always right. That is democratic.	First discuss to see what all viewpoints are. Then vote.	Voting is unfair because then we have to compete with each other. Everybody should be able to take part.	We should be able to find the best solution together. We have to look at all the arguments. It is not about majorities.
Role of minority	Majority decides; tough luck for the others.	If they are fair-sized, you should listen to them to a greater extent.	If it is very important for them, they should be able to have it their way.	It is about the persuasiveness of arguments. Minority or majority status does not matter.