Groups Can't Think (5/13/06)
by Dean Hartwell
There is an old saying that a group's intelligence is the lowest individual IQ in the group divided by the number of people in the group. I believe it is true in political matters.
Recently, in a local political race, a debate panelist asked one of the candidates, a Democrat, whether he supported school vouchers. He initially answered yes, but later indicated he thought the panelist had asked a different question.
But no sooner did he utter the word "Yes" to school vouchers than the teacher's association scolded him for it. They were shocked that a Democrat could say something like that. The teachers called for a protest as the candidate's headquarters.
In other words, the teachers thought as a group. None of the budged from the party line to attack the candidate for deviating from the group orthodoxy. Had they thought as individuals, each of them might have approached the candidate and asked him what he meant when he answered "Yes" to the school voucher question.
The Republicans have had problems of their own with this phenomenon, called "groupthink" (it was identified by author Irving Janis). During the impeachment of President Clinton, all of the Republicans in Congress, with few exceptions, voted to impeach the President. They went on television and discussed the need to uphold the "rule of law," despite the fact that Clinton broke no laws in the Monica Lewinsky affair. Interestingly, these same Republicans have ignored Bush's law-breaking in lying to Congress about the Iraq war and calling for warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens.
Some say the Democrats practiced groupthink themselves during the impeachment vote. But while most Democratic votes were against impeachment, leading Democrats varied on their opinions as to how to respond to Clinton's conduct. A few favored impeachment, many wanted censure (formal rebuke) and a majority expressed outrage at the President.
Groupthink is a symptom of poor leadership. A leader who dictates to others without listening to feedback is most likely to lead a bunch of "yes men" and "yes women." This is what happened to the GOP during Clinton's impeachment. Speaker Newt Gingrich, later outed for having an affair of his own, rounded up his troops and ordered them to toe the line. When Republican Representative Peter King said, "If Clinton were a Republican, we would all oppose this impeachment," Gingrich and his lieutenants failed to listen.
While under the influence of groupthink, a person typically feels embarrassed or intimidated out of expressing an opinion that differs from the group consensus. Those who form the consensus do not want anyone to challenge their illusion of unanimity and won't ask for a "devil's advocate" to come forward.
So what we get in politics is an unspoken agreement among members of a majority not to dissent. For instance, even though the war in Iraq is going poorly, no Republicans have spoken out against it or called for a withdrawal of troops. Instead, they have criticized Democrats for doing so.
It is no wonder that little changes in Washington, D.C. and our nation's capitols. Our leaders are too afraid to speak up to support ideas that a majority oppose. Perhaps thinking would clear if we voted in a new group.