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Democratic leadership is a style of leadership that employs interactive communication between leaders and followers. It allows for involvement and contribution of followers to help decide goals and procedures of the organization. Leadership style focuses on collaboration where leaders have the confidence that followers will make sound, reasonable decisions and leaders are open to suggestions by followers for the overall good of the organization. The emphasis is on the organization on the whole, and how leaders and followers can both contribute to make better decisions together. When followers feel like their opinions and viewpoints are considered, they are more committed to the organizations' goals. A democratic leader believes that problems and situations can be solved better with more peoples’ involvement than one person working alone. Examples of democratic communication include a boss soliciting suggestions from employees for a presentation, a project supervisor asking for ideas from group members, or a retail store manager getting input from employees on clothing displays.

Benefits and Drawbacks
Some researchers have concluded that the democratic style of leadership communication is most effective. The main benefits of the democratic style include follower productivity, satisfaction, and involvement/commitment. With high levels of commitment, group members are more likely to care more deeply about the end results of their work. Due to the fact that group members are encouraged to share their thoughts, using a democratic leadership style may lead to better brainstorming and creative solutions to potential problems. Additionally, under the democratic leadership style, followers feel empowered and valued which results in low rates of employee turnover which is highly beneficial for a company. However, potential costs of democratic leadership communication do exist and includes the potential for longer debates about policy, procedures, and strategy due to the emphasis on open, two-way communication between leaders and followers. When time is critical or in situations where individual roles are not certain, the democratic leadership style may result in delays or uncompleted projects. Generally, democratic leadership works best when plenty of time is allotted for contributions and development. However, other leadership styles, such as authoritarian leadership and laissez-faire leadership may work better in other contexts.

The Effects of Democratic Leadership
Democratic leadership communication contributes to relatively high productivity (whether or not the leader directly supervises followers) and to increased satisfaction, commitment, and cohesiveness. This style of communication is best suited for tasks that require participation and involvement, creativity, and a commitment to a decision.

Effects of democratic leadership communication styles are:
 * Lowers turnover and absenteeism rates
 * Increases follower satisfaction
 * Increases follower participation
 * Increases follower commitment to decisions
 * Increases innovation
 * Increases a follower's perceived responsibility to a group or organization

In a study of leadership styles by Lewin, Lippit, and White in 1939, they placed selected individuals into various groups with different leadership styles. The groups with democratic style of leadership were the most satisfied and functional in the most orderly and positive manner.

Generalizations about Leadership and Group Effectiveness
When working with a group, it's a good idea to figure out what type of leadership style to use based on what the group's goal is. In terms of group effectiveness, some generalizations have been made about the impact of leadership styles from experiments of adult leaders supervising groups of 10-year old children working on hobby projects at a YMCA. Groups with laissez-faire leaders are not as productive and satisfying as groups with democratic leaders. The amount and quality of work done by children in laissez-faire groups was less than that of democratic groups.

Groups that are led by democratic leaders are only slightly less productive than groups led by authoritarian leadership, but the productivity in the democratic group remains steady with or without direct adult supervision. Groups that are led by democratic or laissez-faire leaders show hostile and aggressive behavior, such as arguing, property damage, and blaming less frequently. These groups are also more likely than authoritarian leadership groups to initiative action without the approval of the leader and more likely to express their opinions and ideas. Under democratic leaders, followers exhibit more commitment and cohesiveness, and the climate is generally supportive and friendly.

Democratic leadership works best in creative groups, consulting, much of the service industry and education.

People have a more participatory role in the decision making process under democratic leadership. One person retains final say over all decisions but allows others to share insight and ideas. People are more likely to excel in their positions and develop more skills when they feel empowered, and people are empowered when they are involved in the decision making process. Although it may take some time to achieve full participation from a group, the end result will be rewarding if you can manage to establish a power-sharing environment in your group project.

However, if time is an important aspect of a group accomplishing a goal, democratic leadership has a negative characteristic. Some democratic leaders are frustrated by the enormous effort required to build consensus for even the most mundane decisions as well as the glacial pace required to lead a group by fiat. Leadership styles vary depending on what type of goal a group is aiming to accomplish.