Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Sociocracy and Consensus

[Rob Sandelin (floriferous]

Aha. It is becoming clearer. I think. let me see if I can feed it back what
I think I understand by using a community example. For example, in my
community, there are 6 teams that have specific areas of interest, including
a oversight team (Board of directors). At a "general meeting" using
sociocracy, there are at a minimum, 2 elected people from each team required
and expected to be at the meeting and to represent their team in the
consensus decisions. If I am not an elected person, I can still go to the
general meeting, and I still have a voice, but I am not "expected" to go.
So, if I am one of the elected people on the commonhouse team I am charged
with representing that team to the meeting. Sort of a representational
consensus process?

SO rather than everyone in a community showing up to the general meeting you
have a minimum of 12 that show up, and anybody else who wants to. And the
majority of who shows up has been elected by their neighbors, thus proving
their desirably-trust ability for representing me.

If I have it more of less right, then this seems like a formalized structure
for what happens informally. If I don't go to the meeting, but my team has a
proposal, then I trust that whomever on the team that is there will
represent the team. The elections process seems to be one of validating
those who are willing to put energy into the system.

So, if I have got this now, What happens if I am one of the not very
involved members of the community?  It seems if I was seldom involved, my
neighbors would not choose to elect me. This is what happens anyway, If I am
not involved I don't come, and even if you vote me in, I may still choose
not to come.

I assume there is equality in decision voice between those elected
representative and those who just show up, or is this not the case?

Rob Sandelin
South Snohomish County at the headwaters of Ricci Creek
Sky Valley Environments  <http://www.nonprofitpages.com/nica/SVE.htm>
Field skills training for student naturalists
Floriferous [at] msn.com


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.332 / Virus Database: 186 - Release Date: 3/6/02

_______________________________________________
Cohousing-L mailing list
Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org  Unsubscribe  and other info:
http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L