Identifying Obstacles to Small Group Democracy
- 1 February 1993
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Small Group Research
- Vol. 24 (1) , 5-27
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496493241002
Abstract
This pair of studies examines some of the obstacles groups encounter in their attempts to practice small group democracy. Through a critical case study, a number of problems are identified, including excessive meeting length, unequal involvement in the group, unequal commitment to group goals, cliques and "miniconsensus," differences in communication skills and styles, anid protracted interpersonal conflicts. The second study tests the external validity of thefirst study'sfindings, suggesting that these obstacles may, indeed4 be common and formidable barriers to small group democracy.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- A Definition of Small Group DemocracySmall Group Research, 1992