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The theory of analyzing a decision between a collection of alternatives made by a collection of 
voters with separate
opinions. Any choice for the entire group should reflect the desires of the individual voters to the extent possible.
Fair choice procedures usually satisfy Anonymity (invariance under permutation of voters),
Duality (each alternative receives equal weight for a single vote), and
Monotonicity (a change favorable for 
does not hurt ). Simple majority vote is anonymous,
dual, and monotone. May's Theorem states a stronger result.
See also Anonymous, Dual Voting, May's Theorem, Monotonic Voting, Voting
References
Taylor, A. Mathematics and Politics: Strategy, Voting, Power, and Proof. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1995.
Young, S. C.; Taylor, A. D.; and Zwicker, W. S. ``Counting Quota Systems: A Combinatorial Question from Social Choice
Theory.'' Math. Mag. 68, 331-342, 1995.