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The governing process of One Community is by consensus. We see this as a foundation of our interpersonal community growth and a key aspect of what defines true community. Our consensus process consists of Voting Members and Participants; Participants contribute to the consensus process in all ways except voting and 100% Voting Member consensus is required for decision making.
The governing process of One Community is by consensus. We see this as a foundation of our interpersonal community growth and a key aspect of what defines true community. Our consensus process consists of Voting Members and Participants; Participants contribute to the consensus process in all ways except voting and 100% Voting Member consensus is required for decision making.
I didn't believe consensus governing would ever work until I met someone who'd been a part of a successful consensus governing of 60 people and read Scott Peck's book, The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace, where he talks about the power of genuine community and the importance of the consensus decision making process. By treating everyone's vote equally and requiring 100% agreement of all major decisions you create an environment where clear and heart felt communication are essential and everyone must work together for things to move forward.
Consensus decision making is crucial if your goal is to empower people are to have a community of leaders. Consensus decision making is also crucial if you want genuine community. Only through a community of people empowered and comfortable sharing their thoughts in front of their peers, speaking out when they don't agree with something, and communicating, without emotional wounding, until compromise is achieved can true community be reached. Only by everyone understanding that their vote was equal and heard can community be maintained.
Viktor Frankl in his book Man's Search for Meaning said "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom." The choice of our response, and the growth and freedom within, is much different when you are both in power or subjugated because you are not dealing with an equal. Neither the commander nor the soldier need monitor their response because the outcome is a forgone conclusion when giving and taking orders.
We look at governing by consensus as one of the most powerful stimuli we can imagine for creating community because it demands a response. The usually quiet and demure person is encouraged to stand up and be heard because their voice is equal in value to the strongest leader and it may be the only voice of reason. The usually powerful and authoritarian leader is encouraged to listen because they are not the sole decision maker in the group and will only cause others to dig their heels in more if tact and empathy are not employed. Growth and healing occur because both people must do their utmost to participate proactively in consensus because non resolution of issues, perceived unfairness, failed approaches, and poor decision making are equally shared responsibilities that everyone wishes to avoid.
Consensus requires 100% agreement by all Voting Members but is open to everyone. Voting Members are defined as anyone who lives in the community as a Community Member fulfilling his or her community contribution requirements; everyone else is considered a Participant. No one is required to participate in the consensus process but present Voting Members must vote with the exception of decisions of consequence (voting to remove the member from One Community, voting to remove labor allocation from that member's project, etc.) where the Voting Member in question would be excluded from the deciding consensus vote.
