We explain what consensus is in the social, scientific and political spheres. Also, the origin of the term and what dissent is.
What is consensus?
When we use the term consensus we are referring to any form of agreement reached through the express consent of all those involvedthat is, through unanimity. Matters decided in this way are called consensual and, on the other hand, the lack of consensus or lack of agreement between the parties is known as dissent.
The word consensus comes from Latin consensuswhich can be translated as “approved by all” and is made up of the voices with (“next to”) and sensus (“sense”). It is a word closely related to consent, consent and good sense.
Everything that is agreed by consensus is approved unanimouslythat is, in full compliance, without opposition. In this it differs from majority decisions, in which there is always a minority opposed to what was decided, that is, dissatisfied.
social consensus
In sociology, it is known as social consensus when degree of integration that the individuals of a group present with respect to a decision made or a common project. It is a measure of the intensity of social interactions within the group, regardless of its size.
The social consensus is largely determined by the perception within the group of authoritiesor of the group itself, or of the decisions made: to the extent that these social relations are perceived to be consensual, that they are governed by common norms, then there will be greater social consensus and greater margin for participation.
To calculate the degree of social consensus of a group, it is possible to use various freely distributed statistical tests, which, through the so-called Pearson rank correlation coefficient or the so-called Kendall rank correlation coefficient, express the margin of consensus obtained. from the evaluated sample.
Scientific consensus
When talking about scientific consensus, reference is made to the general and majority position or opinion of the scientific field as a whole, regarding a particular topic or field of study. In other words, scientific consensus is the convergent vision on a topic that expresses the official position of science about it.
Scientific consensus is often referred to regarding controversial issues in public opinion, and not so much for specialized issues. Thus, by turning to the official scientific position of scholars on the subject, one can obtain scientific arguments or specialized reasoning that, thanks precisely to the consensus, are taken as objectives.
The latter means that the entire scientific community – at least the one formally recognized as such – agrees on a set of visions, knowledge and knowledge that have been tested experimentally and that they could not have been falsified or invented, given that the scientific community observes itself and continually demands consensus, that is, unanimous approval.
See also: Scientific knowledge
Political consensus
In the field of politics, consensus is understood as the ability to bring different social actors and interests into agreement that make up society, through negotiations.
That is, political consensus is built when the sectors involved are convinced to carry out a measure or support a cause, instead of unilaterally imposing them through force or coercion.
The political consensus generally involves agreements or agreements between organizations and actors that decide to cooperate regarding a cause. For example, in parliamentary democracies the government is made up of multiple partisan political forces, forced to continually negotiate and gain and give ground in order to establish some type of decisions.
Consensus and dissent
If consensus is the homogeneous agreement between the parties involved, dissent is just the opposite: the lack of homogeneity between the positions of the actors involved which makes unanimity impossible. Dissent or dissidents are those who embrace positions contrary to what is approved or voted for by the majority.
Continue with: Decision making
References
- “Consensus” on Wikipedia.
- “Consensus” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “Dissent and consensus” in Listín Diario.
- “Consensus and dissent” (video) in Banrepcultural.
