ABSTRACT
General Robert assumed that the chairman likely "knows more about the matter" than the ordinary members do. A chairman has the advantage of standing beyond and above the contesting speakers. To have more information, whether about procedure or about matters of substance, is to have power. The pluralistic form of consensus is different. It occurs among people who have different goals, but who need each other's help to achieve them. Those who give their consent do so because it is to their advantage; it is the smart thing to do. President Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963. Johnson, the vice president, served out Kennedy's term and in 1964 was himself elected president in a landslide victory over Barry Goldwater, the Republican candidate. The Johnson package works best when there exists a well-established convention for civilized encounters, as in bureaucracies or representative government or in the corporate business world.
