Olson II- Group Size and Group Behavior
“All that need be granted, to accept the main argument of this study, is that large or latent groups will not organize for co- ordinated action merely because, as a group, they have a reason for doing so, though this could be true of smaller groups.”
Mancur Olson Jr.’s claim for his piece on “Group Size and Group Behavior” is that large groups are less effective compared to smaller groups. He discusses the importance of acknowledging the ineffectiveness of a large group and the benefits of smaller one. Smaller groups are classified as “privileged” because its members work hard “toward the achievement of the collective good.” However, latent groups refers to the idea of “inactive”. What makes the large group unsuccessful is the amount of people and the work that is put into it, obviously, Olson makes it clear throughout his work that people in a large group do not put in enough effort to propel the group and also since there are a lot of people, it is near impossible for there to be an absolute agreement. Even if a member of a large group were to neglect his own interest entirely, he still would not contribute toward the collective good because his own inputs would not be noticeable amongst the group.
I chose this quote because it supported his main argument. Every supporting detail touches upon the idea that large or “latent” groups do not solve anything. It is the reason they split up into smaller subdivisions such as committees, subcommittees, and small leadership groups. A large group tends to spur a lot of discrepancies because not everyone is on the same page and the work is being tossed around freely by the individuals. I agree with Olson’s ideas on group size and behavior because the smaller the group, the more effective it will be for there to be one solution or consensus, as opposed to a larger one.
No comments:
Post a Comment