A Study on the Democratic Style of Leadership

Abstract

The paper studies democratic style of leadership and how the style influences the practices of leadership. Leadership can be categorized based on the level of involving team members and participating in the decision making process. The study is exploratory in nature and attempts to explore and analyze the democratic aspects of leadership style and its influence in the practices of leadership. The study adopts survey and interview techniques and 25 leaders of the state Manipur, India are considered as sample. The primary data are collected using interview cum questionnaire method from the top executives of the selected 25 organizations and also from two immediate subordinates of the sampled executives of the selected organizations and from two immediate subordinates of the sampled executives. The responses of the followers become essential to crosscheck the practices of the leaders. The study highlights how the democratic style influences the practice of leadership.

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A Study on the Democratic Style of Leadership
Dr. L. Jibon Kumar Sharma1 Dr. S. Keshorjit Singh2
1Director, 2Faculty member
Manipur Institute of Management Studies,
Manipur University (A Central University) Imaphal, Manipur, India
ABSTRACT
The paper studies democratic style of leadership and how
the style influences the practices of leadership. Leadership
can be categorized based on the level of involving team
members and participating in the decision making process.
The study is exploratory in nature and attempts to explore
and analyze the democratic aspects of leadership style and
its influence in the practices of leadership. The study adopts
survey and interview techniques and 25 leaders of the state
Manipur, India are considered as sample. The primary data
are collected using interview cum questionnaire method
from the top executives of the selected 25 organizations
and also from two immediate subordinates of the sampled
executives of the selected organizations and from two
immediate subordinates of the sampled executives. The
responses of the followers become essential to crosscheck
the practices of the leaders. The study highlights how the
democratic style influences the practice of leadership.
General Terms
Leadership, Democratic style, Decision making,
Involvement, Participation
Indexing Terms
Decision making, Involvement of subordinates, Ideas and
inputs, Mediation, Skill sharing, and Motivating factor,
Academic Discipline And Sub-Disciplines
Social Science
Subject Classification
Management
Coverage
Democratic Style of Leadership in Leadership Study
Type (Method/Approach)
Exploratory Research Approach
1. INTRODUCTION
Leadership is a universal phenomenon and as old as history
of human (Bass, 1990). Democratic leadership plays key
role in democratic movements (Adorno, 1965; Gastil, 1994;
Kunter, 1965). According to Anderson (1959) democratic
leader is one who encourages participation in decision
making and democratic leadership relates with higher
morale in most leadership situations. Democratic leaders
offer guidance to group members, participate in the group
and allow input from subordinates. Democratic leadership
is termed as the most effective leadership style (Lewin and
White, 1939). Democratic leadership relates with increased
follower productivity, satisfaction, involvement, and
commitment (Hackman & Johnson, 1996). They delegate
authority to followers and also give ongoing support and
focus for the challenging works. Often this style of leader
has the vision to realize what people need and ensure that
they get it. In the process they generate successful and
sustainable organizations. Member satisfaction are greater
under democratic leadership (Bass, 1990; Stogdill, 1974).
They have confidence and trust in their people. When
issues arise and decisions must be made, relevant and
varied participants are involved to discuss the situation and
a majority view is taken as the final decision. However the
impediments to democratic leadership are time consuming
process in taking decision though the participation in the
process enhances the productivity (Denhardt & Denhardt,
2003; Hackman & Johnson, 1996).
The study is exploratory in nature and attempts to explore
and analyze the democratic styles of leadership and for the
purpose 25 leaders of the state Manipur, India are
considered. The sample comprises of both the private and
government sector. In the government sector eighteen
departmental heads including six deputy commissioners of
six different districts of the state are chosen and in the
private sector seven private organizations are chosen based
on the number of employees and profitability of the
organizations. Primary data are collected using interview
cum questionnaire method from the top executives of the
selected organizations and from two immediate
subordinates of the sampled executives. The responses of
the followers become essential component to crosscheck
the practices of the leaders. The required data for the
present study is mainly based on the primary sources
supplemented by secondary. The paper assesses style of the
sampled leaders with reference to democratic style of
leadership. For the purpose, eight statements relating to
leadership behaviors and actions have been used. The
statements were related with the following parameters:
(i) Decision making
(ii) Involvement of subordinates
(iii) Ideas and inputs
(iv) Employees’ participation
(v) Motivating factor
(vi) Participation and skill sharing
(vii) Work with employees
(viii) Mediation
The sampled leaders were called upon to indicate the
degree to which they stand on a five point rating scale for
every statement:
Almost Always True (5)
Frequently True (4)
Occasionally True (3)

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Seldom True (2)
Almost Never True (1)
Two immediate subordinates for each sampled leader were
also cross-examined. The score on the leader’s table
provide information about how the leaders see themselves
and the score of the followers highlight their perception of
the same leader. A brief detail for each parameter and
analysis thereof are shown in Table (1).
2. DECISION MAKING
Decision making is one of the most important functions of
leadership. It is true that every leader takes decisions but
the ways of making decisions vary from one leader to
another. The variation makes a difference in style of
leadership. Their way of decision making is an important
input for identifying the leadership style.
An attempt has been made to determine the style of the
sampled leaders by putting a statement regarding
involvement of people in making decision making process.
The median scores for the sampled leaders correspond to
the highest scale of response category – ‘Almost Always
True’ with a score of 5 in the five point scale (Table (1)).
The result shows that the sampled leaders involve people in
taking decision. The median score of the follower is
‘Frequently True’ (4). According to the rating of the
followers, the sampled leaders have slightly overrated
however they agree that the sample leader involve people.
3. INVOLVEMENT OF
SUBORDINATES
Leaders need ideas and inputs from the subordinates.
Democratic leaders act like a coach who have the final say
but gather information and take inputs from staff members
for future developments in the best interest of the
employees and stake holders.
It has been observed from the table that the median scores
for both the sampled leaders and followers correspond to
the second highest rating of response category -- Frequently
True (4) (Table (1)).. So the sampled leaders feel that they
need the ideas and input from subordinate for upcoming
plans and ventures. The sampled followers also agree.
4. IDEAS AND INPUTS
The changes taking place in technology, demographics,
markets, consumers and their preferences in economies
have significant impacts on organizations. The leader
examine how to response to these environmental changes
and what strategies to adopt. Clearly this exercise is not
self-contained, rather people involvement, contribution and
conceptualizing new ideas are required and different
possible inputs are taken from the employees.
The median scores for the sampled leaders is -- Almost
Always True (5) (Table (1)). They discuss with their
employees to get their input and advice for developing
strategy and conceptualizing new ideas. The median score
for the followers’ on this category falls at the third highest
rating of response category -- Occasionally true (3).
According to the rating of the followers, the sampled
leaders have overrated their responses on the discussed
issue. They occasionally discuss with their employees.
5. EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATION
The fourth statement is regarding encouragement of
employees to participate in the decision making process. A
good democratic leader develops moral and esprit de corps
for his employees. Democratic leader has confidence and
trust in their employees and encourage them to participate
in the decision making process.
The responses of the sampled leaders and their followers
regarding employee’s participation in decision making
process are shown in Table (1). The median score for the
sampled leaders is at the highest scale – ‘Almost Always
True’ (5). This result infers that the sampled leaders
encourage their employees to participate in the decision
making process. The followers have rated the sample
leaders in this category. The median score for the sampled
followers corresponds to third scale of response category –
‘Occasionally True’ (3). There is a gap between the two
median scores. According to the sampled followers their
leaders have overrated on this parameter-employees’
participation. The sample leaders occasionally encourage
their employees to participate in the decision making
process.
6. MOTIVATING FACTOR
A democratic leader influences employees’ motivation
through participation and empowerment. He or she
motivates his or her team by empowering them to direct
themselves, and guide them with a loose reign.
In the light of the above discussion attempt has been made
to study the motivating factor the sampled leaders to their
employees. The median scores for the sampled leaders is
‘Almost Always True’ (5) (Table (1)). The sampled leaders
felt that motivating their employees is participating in the
development of processes. According to the sample
follower the statement is frequently true (Table (1)). Both
the leader and follower agree that participation is
encouraged.
7. PARTICIPATION AND SKILL
SHARING
A democratic leader believes in the capabilities and skill of
his or her employees. He or she involves his or her
employees widely in many organizational activities. He or
she thinks that the main motivating factor for the employee
is participation and skill sharing. The responses of the
sampled leaders and their followers regarding employee’s
participation and skill sharing are shown in Table (1). The
sample leader almost always involves their employees
widely in many organizational activities.
The result highlights that the sampled leaders have thought
that the main motivating factor for their employees is
participation and skill sharing – median score is ‘Almost
Always True’ (5). Followers have highlighted this aspect as
‘Frequently True’ (4). Hence, there is no disagreement
regarding this aspect. However, according to the response
of the followers the leaders have rated themselves slightly
more in this aspect.
8. WORK WITH EMPLOYEES

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The democratic leadership style is also called the
participative style as it encourages employees to be a part
of the decision making. Democratic leaders try to
understand problems of their employees and work with
them to identify the problem and bring solutions.
According to the sample leaders they have worked with
their employees whenever they faced problem and brought
a solution. For them it is almost always true (Table (1)). It
is frequently true for the sample followers. Both leader and
follower agree that the leader worked with their employees
whenever they faced problem and brought a solution.
9. MEDIATION
A democratic leader is a coach. He or she develops team
spirit and high moral among the employees. A leader of
this style mediates for others and provides clear feedbacks.
Both the leader and follower agree that the sample leader
frequently mediates and give clear feedbacks (Table (1)).
The responses of the leader and their subordinates tally
which is ‘Frequently True’. So the leaders encourages team
sprit and high morale among the employees.
10. OVER-VIEW
The median score for the sampled leaders falls at the
highest rating scale – ‘Almost Always True’ (Table (2)).
This result indicates that the sampled top executives of
organizations in Manipur are highly democratic in their
leadership practices. In other words, they delegate authority
to followers in making decisions. They took the ideas and
inputs from the followers for upcoming plans and
strategies. They motivated the followers through
participation in organizational activities. They also worked
with the followers and mediated for them. The followers
supported their leaders’ democratic practices. This is
evident from the median score – ‘Frequent True’ (Table
(2)).
An important factor making democratic style significant is
because majority of the sampled leaders are from
government and public sectors organizations. There are few
private sector organizations in Manipur. The bureaucratic
officers who are considered as sampled leaders in the study
felt that the final decision makers were not them but higher
authorities. For example the Deputy Commissioners
highlighted that they only give suggestions for making
decisions but the final decision are made at cabinet levels.
The sampled leaders recognized that people are less
competitive and more collaborative when they are working
on joint goals. They also agree that collective decision is
better than individual decision which can be achieved only
when leaders are democratic in their styles. The sampled
leaders from the government and public sectors felt that
they involve their subordinates in the decision making
process. These sampled leaders were of the opinion that
they are public servants and work for the upliftment of the
state and for the society at large.
Table (1): Democratic Leadership Style
Sl.
No
Parameters
Median score
Leaders
(Scale)
Followers
(Scale)
1.
Decision making
Almost Always True (5)
Frequently True (4)
2.
Involvement of subordinates
Frequently True (4)
Frequently True (4)
3.
Ideas and inputs
Almost Always True(5)
Occasionally True(3)
4.
Employees’ participation
Almost Always True(5)
Occasionally True(3)
5.
Motivating factor
Almost Always True(5)
Frequently True (4)
6.
Participation and skill sharing
Almost Always True(5)
Frequently True (4)
7.
Work with employees
Almost Always True(5)
Frequently True (4)
8.
Mediation
Frequently True (4)
Frequently True (4)
Table (2): Democratic Leadership Style
Leader
Follower
Response
category
No. of
respondents
Cumulative
frequency
Median
score
Response
category
No. of
respondents
Cumulative
frequency
Median
score
Almost
always true
112
112
Almost
always true
Almost
always true
75
75
Frequently
true
53
165
Frequently
true
101
176
Frequently
True
Occasionally
true
23
188
Occasionally
true
66
242
Seldom true
12
200
Seldom true
36
278
Almost never
true
0
200
Almost never
true
2
280
Total
200
Total
280
281
REFERENCES
[1] Bass, B. M. (1990). Bass & Stogdill’s handbook of
leadership: Theory, research & managerial
applications (3rded.). New York: Free Press.
[2] Adorno, T. W. (1965). Democratic leadership and
mass manipulation. In A. W. Gouldner, Studies in
leadership: Leadership and democratic action (pp.
417-421). New York: Russell & Russell.

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ISSN: 2278-5612 Volume 3, No 2, January, 2013
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[3] Gastil, J. (1994). A definition and illustration of
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Ist Author’s Biography:
Dr. L. Jibon Kumar
Sharma has around
eighteen years of
experience in teaching
MBA students at
Manipur Institute of
Management Studies,
Manipur University,
Imphal, India.
Before pursuing his career in teaching he worked in
the industry. He has published in national and
international journals of repute. His area of interest
is in the area of integration of social
entrepreneurship and strategic management
perspective, leadership and sustainable
development.
2nd Author’s
Biography: Dr.
S.Keshorjit Singh has
more than a decade of
experience in teaching
MBA students at
Manipur Institute of
Management Studies,
Manipur University,
India.
He has published in journals of repute. Before
joining the Institute he worked at P&G India for
three years. His area of interest is leadership and
strategic management. He has more than nine years
of experience in research in the field of leadership