Looking at AMC voting patterns

What a fascinating exercise!

I decided to go look at data to evaluate the accusations of Groupthink on the AMC. I went through the minutes of all the AMC meetings starting with July 2007 through November 2008. The March 2009 minutes are not available yet.

I made a big spreadsheet recording everyone’s votes on motions. I ignored all the consent agenda stuff and motions like thanking the local group for hosting, etc. I included or substituted motions which were amended during the discussion.

The really contentious votes were: Limiting ExComm powers 2007-075, Sending the RVC replacement problem back to committee for more refinement, Revising the nominating process, Approving the vision statement 2007-086, Paying for the consultant (a very close vote!) 2008-017, Decreasing the # of CSubs 2008-018, Having AML handle the AG finances 2008-021, and Deleting or defining calumny.

The following 5 AMC members were never on the minority side of any vote: Ken, John S., Scott, Heather, and Peggy.

The other 15 members, Nick, Jean, Dave, Cyndi, Dan, Ralph, Clark, Leah, Bob, Lori, John R., Maggie, Greg, Elissa, and myself all had one or more motions that didn’t go the way they wanted.

So what I see here is lots of agreement, but not a pattern of resistance to voting against the pack.

When three quarters of the body is in the minority at some point, I cannot see this as evidence of "going along to get along."

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: agreement does not equal Groupthink. Agreement indicates that a group is working together to reach compromises that will please most members of that group, which, in my mind, is exactly what we should be striving for.

(and if anyone wants to see my spreadsheet, you can down load it here )