Reach and selectivity as strategies of recruitment for collective action: A theory of the critical mass, V*

This research was supported by National Science Foundation Grant Number SES‐8408131. Direct all correspondence to Gerald Marwell.

Abstract

Theoretical investigation of a mathematical model of organizing for interdependent collective action compares the advantages of emphasizing reach, i.e. the sheer numbers recruited, to the advantages of emphasizing selectivity, i.e. the mean resources or interests of those recruited. The context is an accelerating production function in which each additional contribution has an increasing effect on the total payoff; this context is most likely at the beginning of an organizing drive. Both reach and selectivity are found to have thresholds which must be achieved before increases have any effect; these thresholds depend on the given levels of other parameters, and depending on conditions may be either discontinuous jumps or regions of steep but decelerating effects. Once the threshold region is surpassed, increasing either the reach or the selectivity for resources of recruitment has a constant positive effect, while the effect increasing the selectivity for interest becomes zero. The implications for real‐life recruitment strategies are discussed.

Notes

This research was supported by National Science Foundation Grant Number SES‐8408131. Direct all correspondence to Gerald Marwell.