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Ideological Diffuseness and Internal Democracy in Voluntary Associations
Abstract
Despite widespread recognition of the question of the determinants of
democracy as a significant problem, little comparative research on
this topic has been conducted, with previous research largely limited
to case studies of single organizations. Investigated was the
relationship between the diffuseness of organizational ideologies
& internal democracy, utilizing data from 30 Protestant
denominations. Democracy was conceptualized as effectiveness of
opposition. Two different approaches to the measurement of democracy
were used: the first focuses on whether an elected office is held as a
result of a contested election, & the second is concerned with the
turnover of officers. Considerable support was found for the
proposition that higher degrees of diffuseness of ideology tend to
produce higher degrees of democracy within organizations. Five of the
6 measures of democracy show that fundamentalist denominations have a
lower degree of internal democracy than do denominations with more
diffuse ideologies. 2 Tables, Appendix. HA.
Journal
(January 1976)
vol5
no1
pages33-41
Categories
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Membership Associations
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Voluntary and Member Associations
