Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Sociocracy Email List

[Sheila Braun (sheila.braun]

Thanks, Sharon.

Just one minor correction: I think the "John A. Buchan" might be "John
Buck," who, as far as I know, is the most active US advocate of sociocracy.

Sheila

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sharon Villines" <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com>
To: "Cohousing-L" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 5:46 PM
Subject: [C-L]_Sociocracy Email List


> I've started reading Endenburg's work on Sociocracy and am fascinated by
it.
> When I joined cohousing I was rather dumbfounded by the process for
running
> meetings. While I agreed with consensus wholeheartedly, I couldn't figure
> out why parliamentary procedure had been thrown out. The explanation is
that
> it is based on majority rule is not sufficient since the first level of
> decision making  and the one that is preferred is "hearing no objections
the
> measure passes."
>
> It's too complicated is not sufficient because there are simplified forms
> like the one used by the American Psychological Association.
>
> I tried to find process people who would work with me on adapting
> parliamentary procedure to a more process friendly format that required
> consensus and then tried to get parliamentary experts to work with me. No
> one was interested. "Never shall the twain meet."
>
> Discovering Sociocracy feels like salvation. In it I found explanations
for
> all the reasons I was feeling like the consensus process was feeling
> autocratic instead of super-democratic as it should be.
> I went to YahooGroups to start a Sociocracy list --perhaps one for
> Sociocracy in Cohousing, and found a list had been started in 1998. It had
3
> members, two of whom turned out to be John A Buchan who is the most active
> advocate in the USA. The other member is in Australia. Then there is me.
>
> I invite everyone who is interested in discussing Sociocracy to join this
> list. Since cohousing groups are already functioning on consensus, they
are
> perfect for the model of governance. Consensus is a threshold for
> decision-making but it needs a governance structure and shared
expectations
> on the part of the participants to work effectively.
>
> But to make the theory useful to those who do not care for sorting out
> abstractions, the language needs some work. Why base your theory on
circles
> and present it in hierarchical terms in triangles, for example? Not a
theory
> problem just an old set of examples. How do we make a better model that is
> easy to understand and apply? Using your primary account , send any
message
> to this address to subscribe:
>
> Subscribe:     sociocracy-subscribe [at] yahoogroups.com
>
> If you are asked to register, you do not have to give all the personal
> information. But having a registered account is helpful in changing your
> email address on all accounts and getting them all linked to a page called
> "my groups".
>
> Please join this list if you are interested in discussing Sociocracy. I
> think there will be more discussion here on Sociocracy and cohousing but
> some of the theory discussions will send people who just want a
construction
> loan over the top.
>
> Sharon
> --
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
>
>
>
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