Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing communities with Sociocracy enshrined in Declaration / Bylaws?

[Abe Ross (cohoyote]

I think the issue was not Sociocracy per se.  It was about incorporating 
it into the bylaws or declaration, etc.

Abe Ross
Treehouse Village Ecohousing
Bridgwater, NS
Canada


On 8/31/2021 12:11 PM, Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L wrote:
> > On Aug 28, 2021, at 4:22 PM, Scott Drennan<scottd [at] pobox.com>  wrote:
> >
> > Are you aware of any cohousing communities which use Sociocracy / Dynamic
> > Governance, are incorporated as a condominium and:
> >
> >    1. who have included references to Sociocracy in the Condo Declaration,
> >    CC&Rs, Bylaws and/or Strata Agreements; or
> >    2. who use Sociocracy without referencing it in the Condo Declaration,
> >    CC&Rs, Bylaws and/or Strata Agreements
> I don’t think anyone has collected the documents for cohousing communities but there 
> are sample bylaws. There are two sets in We the People: Consenting to a deeper democracy 
> — a handbook on sociocratic principles and methods. One for businesses and one for 
> non-profits.
> https://amzn.to/3gO7PXH
>
> They are also posted sociocracy.info:
> https://www.sociocracy.info/sociocratic-bylaws/
>
> An important thing to remember is that “sociocracy” itself is not a legal document —it 
> isn’t codified to be used in a very specific way. There are the three principles and the 
> circle-organization method but the principles have been applied in various ways by organizations of 
> different sizes and types.
>
> Coherence is important in your application so you need to understand what the 3 
> principles mean — what are the intended to accomplish.
>
> 1. Consent:  All policy decisions are made by the consent of the individuals 
> and groups of individuals the policies affect.
>
> Policies include: role assignments (decisions about who does what, who leads, 
> etc), resource allocation (money, people space, etc.), any decisions that 
> affect how the individuals in the organization will function together in the 
> future.
>
> 2. Circles: Policy decisions are made in groups of people who function as equals. The 
> people in the circle make the decisions that guide them as members of the organization 
> — their work/fun/living/playing, etc.
>
> 3. Double Links or Feedback loops — Circles are interconnected or overlapping, 
> usually by at least one person from each of the two related circles participating in 
> the decision-making of both circles. These feedback loops between circles form a 
> stable structure for communications and governance throughout the organization.
>
> Day to day operations are conducted much as they are everywhere. The only 
> difference is that how they are conducted has been decided by the whole circle. 
> Everyone has consented to who does what and how. The operations leader follows 
> these policies.
>
> To include sociocracy in legal documents, think about distinctions that would be clear in a 
> courtroom. “Sociocracy” needs to have a reference, I think. Sociocracy as 
> taught (by teacher X or organization Y). Otherwise you have a wide open range as people 
> define it differently. You might state the 3 principles.
>
> Vital is consent in policymaking. The purpose of the principles is to ensure 
> that consent is maintained and respected throughout the organization.
>
> We are just revising out bylaws and are following the lead of the DC Condominium Act. It 
> frequently says, This _____ will be done thus and so, unless otherwise specified in the 
> Community Rules. Or it will say "This will be considered ______ regardless of any 
> Community Rule to the contrary.”
>
> The Bylaws need statements of legal protection — who owns what and how is that 
> recorded? What rights does an owner have in the community in the use of space inside 
> and outside their unit? If disagreements arise what is the decison-making process used 
> to resolve it?
>
> Read the laws governing the legal structure in your state that you will use. Go step by step 
> translating the requirements using “consent" instead of "majority vote," using 
> references to circles rather than THE BOARD.
>
> I’m in a small working group proposing revisions of our bylaws. We have taken many specific requirements out 
> and replaced them with general policy statements and added as specified in "Community Rules.” Amounts of 
> money, number of signatures, are specified in "Community Rules” because they are easier to change. We 
> don’t have to record them with the government and pay a fee to change the insurance deductible from $50,000 to 
> $100,000.
>
> > We are also exploring this withhttps://www.sociocracyforall.org  but so far
> > have not had any pointers to communities who have included Sociocracy in
> > their legal documents.
> In the past Jerry has had the longest list of communities using sociocracy in some form. Takoma 
> Village doesn’t except that since I know sociocracy, I can say that we function 
> sociocratically without formally recognizing it. We don’t have an external frame of 
> reference. Our definitions for the consent process are the same — consent means no unresolved 
> objections. We use  consent at all levels. It is the nature of cohousing to have overlapping 
> representation in all the teams, pods, working groups, etc.
>
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
>
>
>
>
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