2. Through self-selection—the leadership being assumed by those who are the quickest to seize it.
Primitive, disorganized or unorganized societies or associations pick their leaders in this way. The strongest, the most courageous, the most cunning, press to the front in an emergency, and their leadership is accepted as a matter of course by those who are less strong or courageous or cunning. The leaders of a miscellaneous mob are apt to be thus self-selected. The leaders of new activities, like the organized business of the United States and Canada, have been, for the most part, self-selected. Seeing opportunities for economic advantage, they have grasped them before their fellows realized what was happening. The great accumulations of economic power that were made in this way during the past generation are now being passed from father to son, and the leadership in American economic life is therefore tending to fall into an hereditary caste or class. There is still, however, a considerable margin of self-selection of American economic leadership.
3. Through social selection—the right and duty of leadership being assigned by the group, after some form of deliberation to a designated individual.
This is the method common to all highly organized and self-conscious societies that are not dominated by a system of hereditary caste rule. Public officials in most of the countries of the world, officials of trade unions and other voluntary associations are usually selected in this manner.
The selection of executive leadership in any organized society must be through heredity or through group choice. Self-selection is necessarily confined to new or temporary or loosely organized groups.
9. The Details of Organization
These general principles of economic self-government may be applied to local, district, divisional and to world economic groupings. To be sure the application, in each instance, will be varied in accordance with the peculiar needs in question, but a general scheme of procedure may be suggested somewhat as follows:
1. Suggestions for the organization of a local economic unit in a given industry—a mine, factory, store—
a. The entire working force would meet at regular intervals, in a shop meeting, or colliery meeting, or store meeting, to transact general business.
b. At such a meeting a shop committee selected by those present, would be charged with the responsibility of directing affairs in the shop that had selected it. The shop committee would consist of a small group, varying in size with the size of shop, under the chairmanship of a person selected by the workers at the same time they elected the committee.