We use a Cooperative Decision Making (CDM) model to study the effect of
committed minorities on group behavior in time of crisis. The CDM model has
been shown to generate consensus through a phase-transition process that at
criticality establishes long-range correlations among the individuals within a
model society. In a condition of high consensus, the correlation function
vanishes, thereby making the network recover the ordinary locality condition.
However, this state is not permanent and times of crisis occur when there is an
ambiguity concerning a given social issue. The correlation function within the
cooperative system becomes similarly extended as it is observed at criticality.
This combination of independence (free will) and long-range correlation makes
it possible for very small but committed minorities to produce substantial
changes in social consensus
