Editing Collective action (section)

===Dimensions===

Spontaneous consensus can be considered along 4 dimensions involving the social structure of the individuals participating (local versus global) in the consensus as well as the processes (competitive vs cooperative) involved in reaching consensus:<ref name="Baronchelli (2017)"/>

* Competitive
* Cooperative
* Local
* Global

====Competitive versus cooperative====

The underlying processes of spontaneous consensus can be viewed either as ''cooperation'' among individuals trying to coordinate themselves through their interactions or as ''competition'' between the alternatives or choices to be decided upon.<ref name="Baronchelli (2017)"/> Depending on the dynamics of the individuals involved as well as the context of the alternatives considered for consensus, the process can be wholly cooperative, wholly competitive, or a mix of the two.

====Local versus global====

The distinction between local and global consensus can be viewed in terms of the social structure underlying the network of individuals participating in the consensus making process. ''Local consensus'' occurs when there is agreement between groups of neighboring nodes while ''global consensus'' refers to the state in which most of the population has reached an agreement.<ref name="Baronchelli (2017)"/> How and why consensus is reached is dependent on both the structure of the social network of individuals as well as the presence (or lack) of centralized [[institutions]].