because diverse people bring diverse outlooks to problems. Increasing the voice of minority group members also increases the capacity of these minority group members to bring their differences to bear for purposes of improving the decisions political organizations make. Diversity results in increased acceptance of the policy decisions political institutions make (Gibson 2008). Members of political institutions, like political parties, therefore have an incentive to foster diversity among their ranks. Although organizational diversity, for example, yields an additional benefit of producing better collective decisions in both hierarchical and flat organizational structures (e.g., Downs 1967; Krause, Lewis, and Douglas 2006; March and Simon 1958; March 1991; Page 2007), such benefits are realized only if these diverse groups are able to work together effectively (Krause and Douglas 2011). At the same time, increasing the size of the majority decreases the volatility with which individual legislators react to their colleagues’ different policy preferences. This effect works for all colleague relationships, not solely minority-majority group relations. Indeed, both majority and minority group members are differentially valued for preference divergence as the proportion of minority group members increases. In other words, majority group members are less susceptible to decreases in the level colleagues value due to preference divergence. them This has both individual and group benefits. On the individual level, legislators can feel freer to express their views without fear of retaliation from their colleagues. On the group level, the minority group provides stability in political organizations that may help them to operate more effectively. Barriers from the Minority Group
because diverse people bring diverse outlooks to problems. Increasing the voice of minority group members also increases the capacity of these minority group members to bring their differences to bear for purposes of improving the decisions political organizations make. Diversity results in increased acceptance of the policy decisions political institutions make (Gibson 2008). Members of political institutions, like political parties, therefore have an incentive to foster diversity among their ranks. Although organizational diversity, for example, yields an additional benefit of producing better collective decisions in both hierarchical and flat organizational structures (e.g., Downs 1967; Krause, Lewis, and Douglas 2006; March and Simon 1958; March 1991; Page 2007), such benefits are realized only if these diverse groups are able to work together effectively (Krause and Douglas 2011). At the same time, increasing the size of the majority decreases the volatility with which individual legislators react to their colleagues’ different policy preferences. This effect works for all colleague relationships, not solely minority-majority group relations. Indeed, both majority and minority group members are differentially valued for preference divergence as the proportion of minority group members increases. In other words, majority group members are less susceptible to decreases in the level colleagues value them due to preference divergence. This has both individual and group benefits. On the individual level, legislators can feel freer to express their views without fear of retaliation from their colleagues. On the group level, the minority group provides stability in political organizations that may help them to operate more effectively. Barriers from the Minority Group
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