MOTIVATIONAL ORIENTATION AND THE NATURE OF CONSENSUAL DECISION-PROCESSES - A TRIANGULATED APPROACH

Area specialists have observed that one way elite decision processes c an vary is in the proportion of the decision-making group seen as nece ssary to support group action: decision-makers can aim for consensus, or they can aim for less inclusive support. Is this distinction of the oretical significance! I argue that it is through an examination of th ree sources: (1) rational-choice analyses of unanimity and majority ru les; (2) social psychological studies of the effects of these rules in the laboratory; and (3) descriptions of dispute resolution processes as these appear in Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and American fiction. T hese sources indicate that consensual decision processes tend either t o inhibit collective action, induce cognitive effort and commitment, o r promote particular definitions of issues depending on the motivation al orientation of decision-makers-on whether they are interest-maximiz ers, information-processors, or social beings. This conclusion, I argu e, has broad implications for the study of elite decision making.