10.1177/1090198104271967AugustHealth Education & Behavior (A gust 2005)M tzger et al. / Effects on Member Participation The Effects of Leadership and Governance Processes on Member Participation in Community Health Coalitions

This study examines the effects of coalition leadership and governance on member participation in voluntary community health coalitions. Path modeling was used to explore how leadership and governance processes in coalitions affect existing member costs, benefits, and levels of participation. It was hypothesized that the effects of coalition decision making and leadership variables would be indirect by working through their effects on par-ticipants ’ perceived influence over coalition decision making and on overall consensus around the coalition vision. Results of the analysis indicate that open and collaborative decision making and empowering leadership do have indirect, positive effects on the level of participation by way of vision consensus and participation bene-fits. Participation costs, however, show no significant direct effect on the level of participation. Perceived per-sonal influence appears to be primarily an outcome of participation rather than an antecedent