Conflict and Consensus: A General Theory of Collective Decisions

by Serge Moscovici, Willem Doise

This book presents a bold new theory of the processes of collective decision-making that draws on theoretical influences ranging from group decision theory through to the authors′ own social representations theory. Moscovici and Doise offer a novel analysis of group conflict and the construction of consensus to produce a general theory of collective decisions. Going beyond the traditional view that compromise is a negative process where group members merely comply in order to sustain cohesion, the authors argue that the conflict at the root of group decisions can be a positive force leading to changes in opinion and to innovation. Their theoretical framework is illustrated in depth with numerous empirical investigations fro

224 pages, Hardcover

First published August 4, 1994

About the author

Serge Moscovici (born 14 June 1925 as Srul Herş Moscovici) is a Romanian-born French social psychologist, currently the director of the Laboratoire Européen de Psychologie Sociale ("European Laboratory of Social Psychology"), which he co-founded in 1974 at the Maison des sciences de l'homme in Paris. He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and Officer of the Légion d'honneur, as well as a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.