A simple online platform for consensus decision making
People's Assemblies, Citizens Assemblies, Future Democracy Hub, Empathy Circles & Cafes, Consensus Decision Making, Open Source Democracy ...
... there are any number of initiatives to bring power back to the people, not least of which is Loomio.
Although face to face social interaction is great (which we're all missing right now) there is a place for online tools and platforms for
discussion
debate
surveys
decision making
voting
We're in the 21st century, but many of our democratic institutions are stuck in the middle ages as noted by Pia Mancini in her excellent TED talk in 2014 https://www.ted.com/talks/pia_mancini_how_to_upgrade_democracy_for_the_internet_era?language=am#t-5167
But which new platform will prevail, which new system will revolutionise the way we think about democracy and will go beyond the representative democracy we think of as "set in stone".
Representative Democracy may be better than rule by aristocrats, monarchs or dictators, but it's is still a long way short of realising of true people power. All we effectively do is hand over power to the people that control the majority party.
Who are they?
Why is whipping still a thing? https://www.change.org/p/rt-hon-david-cameron-mp-make-whipping-illegal
So this has bothered me for a number of years - I can't recall the initial spark, but reading the book "The Wisdom of Crowds" was definitely early on in my journey.
So as a result of this little prompt - https://www.loomio.org/d/z1Wr83Zk/is-it-possible-to-create-a-new-currency-such-as-citizen-coupons-independent-from-extractive-and-predatory-economy-/10 (The link focuses on the post and then loses it - a bug that I'm sure the guys at Loomio are working on) ...
... here is a link to my work in progress - as a contender to be the platform that steps up our democracy by a gear or two. I've been working on it part time for a number of year (no overnight viral success for me) and it still has a way to go https://free.vote/
Prepare to be underwhelmed - it may be a slow burner and there are many features still to be developed. But here's a Prezi introduction to give an idea of the thinking behind it https://prezi.com/b_vwcqh03ogz/the-silent-majority/ - be sure to go full screen and advance the (slide) show using the arrows at the bottom or right cursor.
There's also this - https://prezi.com/mkxc2ucj_sab/consensus/ which needs a narrative to go with it, but gives a heads up on The Consensus Decision Making Process, but if you're really interested this wikipedia article has some great background - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus_decision-making
So there you go, this is not exactly a launch, but just sharing my work in progress with friends at AUK.
(My son says NEVER share a work in progress - he's a musician 🙂)
Alex Cooper Sat 28 Mar 2020 9:34PM
... and on listening to Pia Mancini's talk again, I've realised that (maybe) I stole a slogan I use whenever I can - "No representation without consultation"
She said "No representation without a conversation"
Bob Bollen Sun 29 Mar 2020 11:04AM
Alex. This is all very exciting. Thanks for sharing. I watched the second prezi and get it. I used to work in s/w dev and project managment. Now I spend a lot of my time working with http://TalkShopUK.org to promote respectful discussion on big issues. Would enjoy talking with you more. All the best. Bob
Alex Cooper Sun 29 Mar 2020 2:24PM
Hi Bob, yes, it would be good to arrange a time to talk - what I've seen on your site shows that we have a large area of overlapping interest.
I work full time and devote many hours to developing free.vote part time. I have online meetings Tue, Wed and Thu evening next week, but maybe i'll catch up with you on the AUK call shortly - well in 30 mins actually ... !
Alex Cooper Sun 29 Mar 2020 5:12PM
Sorry Bob, I lost the Zoom link you sent privately when I left the meeting.
Joe Milton Sun 29 Mar 2020 5:18PM
I reckon that ‘one’ could experiment with replicating what the AI part of Polis do, which was a very effective participatory tech used in Taiwan. What Polis does is is to find proposals that have a common agreement between groups who normally tend to disagree with each other. But Polis is too expensive for your average community. And we can replicate and use the same idea and bring it alongside deep hanging out, and facilitated deliberation. So for this, you create two groups (in meeting or just via online voting; those who tend to agree with a proposal and those who tend to disagree. For example, group 1 - those with concerns with proposal X, and group 2 - those with creative ideas about going ahead with X. Each group decides what concerns (group 1) or ideas (group 2) to write onto a slido (a simple voting app where people vote on statements they agree with), which then gets sent to the other group who gets to vote. Group 1 gets to vote on the ideas from group 2 and vice versa. The proposals with the most votes potentially suggest where areas of consensus might exist between the two groups. However, there is need for facilitation away from participatory voting. Further collaboration, deliberation, and rewriting of proposals will also be needed; including re-integrating the two groups with each other via active listening. I don't think to bring things away from facilitated deliberation to mere participatory systems would work by itself, and as far as facilitation is concerned there's no one answer fits all; but there is the common value of inclusion, listening and diversity; and the general formula of input, deliberation, and integration.
Alex Cooper Sun 29 Mar 2020 7:33PM
AI facilitation is light years ahead of what it's possible for one person to do part time 🙂
The free.vote site is at the stage where points can be made and others can vote on them anonymously. But I do plan to develop
prioritisation of issues in groups
developing (offline) listening in breakout groups
capturing key points to be fed back to the main group
proposal formulation
objection handling leading to consensus
There will always be a place for facilitated, face to face deliberation, but that doesn't mean that there can't be tools to support the process.
I've been involved in many workshops where key points have been captured on post-it notes and put on a flip chart or wall and then someone attempts to summarise, but no votes are taken and no decisions are made. The exercise may inform, ideas may be exchanged, but any conclusions evaporate not long after the meeting closes.
But there is a place for persisting those facts, opinions and calls for action that the next group can build upon. We don't have to start from scratch every time.
Ah, slido - looks brilliant - if only there were a free mass participation version.
And I'm right behind the principles of inclusion, listening and diversity; and the general formula of input, deliberation, and integration.
Alex Cooper · Sat 28 Mar 2020 9:15PM
Hoping this feature developed earlier today works ... link to a single point https://free.vote/CAN/1759
... no it doesn't, you have to be signed in - work for tomorrow 🤔