Fragmentational decision-making is a method of decision-making, in which disputes are resolved via fragmentation of the community, in which one part of the community coheres and follows one decision, whereas the other part of the community coheres and follows a different decision.
The following are examples of fragmentational decision-making:
- A person, or type of person, applies to join a community. Some people in the community want to admit them, and others want to bar them. So, the community fragments into 2 separate sub-communities. The disputed community applicant(s) are allowed only within the sub-community of people that want to allow them.
- Some people in the community want to pool the community's money for a construction project of some kind. Other people in the community do not want to spend money and/or labor on the project. So, the community fragments into 2 separate sub-communities. The sub-community that supports the project is the only one that pays and/or works for it, and is the only one that reaps it's benefits.
- Some people in the community want to impose a particular rule upon community members, and other people within the community oppose the proposed rule. So, the community fragments into 2 separate sub-communities. One sub-community follows the proposed rule, and the other sub-community does not.