Decision Makers in Rural Community Action

An attempt to see for various community actions how a group through interaction sets goals & allocates means within limiting conditions, in accordance with the group's orientation over time. Leadership is a complex process of group action in which individuals are leaders to the extent that they influence a group in the making of decisions. Decision making (DM) processes in an open-country community were compared with the processes found in complex situations. Characteristics of the community led to the expectation that there would be no sharp breaks in interaction between cliff levels in the leadership structure & no sharp diff's between makers of major & minor decisions. Some of these characteristics were emphasis on neighborliness & equalitarlanism, few people to act as lieutenants for major community leaders, diffuse roles, no sharp distinction between functions of various local institutions. An open-country agricultural community in the Piedmont of North Carolina was chosen. There were 800-925 whites in 3 neighborhoods & 125 Negroes in one neighborhood. There were 19 agencies & org's, + 13 sub-org's within the churches. Data were collected in personal interviews from Jul, 1953-. Feb, 1954, by, the interviewer who lived in the community & participated in its activities. Formal leadership scores were gained for each individual in the community on the basis of formal positions held. Informal leadership rank was calculated on the basis of rating of 4 judges to each of about 30 leaders in each neighborhood. DM scores were calculated for all individuals on the basis of interview data. Data supported the expectation that upper leaders in open-country community will interact with lower, intermediate, & upper leaders. The exceptions to this were among a few professional leaders who exercised influence through high-ranking lay leaders. 'The same individuals who made high cost decisions tended to make low cost decisions.' Both upper formal & informal leaders tended to have a larger part in making decisions than lower formal & Informal leaders. Upper leaders, formal & informal, were in contact with individuals at all levels of the leadership structure. The same individuals tended to make high & low cost decisions. J. B. Perry.