Quorum rules assume a legislative fraction statistically resembles the whole.

Evidence

It appears at first extremely singular, that the power of the whole assembly should be thus transferred to so small a portion [i.e. the quorum minimum]. It arises from the circumstance, that abstraction made of intentional surprise, nothing more is to be feared from a fraction of the assembly than from the total number. Allowances being made for the differences of individual talents—as is the whole, so is each part. — Adrian Vermeule, Absolute Voting Rules, 225

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the implicit statistical premise justifying quorum minimums — the assumption that any part mirrors the whole.
• DEEPTHINKING: The ‘as is the whole, so is each part’ principle is a quiet but profound sampling assumption underlying all representative procedure, worth sitting with.