The Distribution of Influence in Religious Organizations

Abstract

This paper investigates the distribution of influence in determining policies and actions in eighty-five Roman Catholic dioceses. Based on the responses of over three thousand diocesan priests, the influence structures were centralized both in the actual and ideal situation for all dioceses. In a comparison with union locals, Leagues of Women Voters, and stations of a delivery company, the religious organizations were found to be the most centralized and to have the least amount of total influence operating within the system. The nature of the professionalism of the Roman Catholic diocesan priesthood and the impact of innovative reforms stemming from the Second Vatican Council are discussed in the light of these results. he need to institutionalize patterns of belief, worship, and organization inevitably leads to the development of an administrative hierarchy within an organized religion. Harrison (1959: 5) has noted that there is generally a close connection between the doctrinal beliefs of a religion and the administrative structure of its church. While some sort of authority structure appears inevitable, therefore, the extent and the nature of this administrative coordination and direction is problematic. All organizations require some type of authority system through which the activities of separate individuals are coordinated for the achievement of organizational goals. Etzioni (1961) has suggested that a useful typology of organizational types can be based on the dominant form of social controlutilitarian, coercive, or normative-used within the organization. Organizations exhibiting the same type of social control should be more similar to one another than organizations using different types. He cites religious organizations as a prime example of normative organizations in which social control is achieved primarily through the manipulation of symbolic and moral power. One aspect of organizational structure that should be particularly responsive to the dominant type of social control is the distribution of influence within the organization. Distributions of influence and patterns of control over organizational activity have been systematically examined in a number of different kinds of organizations *The research reported here is part of the Comparative Religious Organization Studies (CROS) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, conducted under grant SOC73-09036A02 from the National Science Foundation, which is gratefully acknowledged. This paper is CROS Report 03.