(Dec 2016 rewrite alternative to The Long Version)

Concord Democracy

Concord Democracy is simple procedure for making decisions and electing officials.

Why Concord Democracy?

There are two questions here. First, why use a formal 'procedure'? Informal decision-making works great most of the time; but eventually, a controversial and divisive issue will arise; or perhaps some person will attempt to grab power; or perhaps factions will develop and things just get 'political'. Without a procedure, the organization can become paralyzed by indecision; be taken over; or become so intolerant and conflict-ridden that key contributors leave. Having a good procedure in place BEFORE times get tough is essential for allowing the organization to continue to function, resist power grabs, and fairly take into account the views of all members.

Second, why is Concord Democracy better than other procedures? Compared to the alternatives, Concord is more simple, moderate (the system empowers moderates, not extremists), democratic (members can vote directly on issues, not just for political parties), safe (against power grabs and fraud), efficient (instead of large meetings, small meetings and written discussions), modern (amenable to use online), and personal (officials are selected through interviews instead of mass elections).

The biggest disadvantage of Concord Democracy is that it's new; older procedures have had time to expose mistakes and smooth out rough edges. For groups looking for a time-tested procedure, we suggest Robert's Rules of Order.

How are decisions made?

There are three places where decisions are made:

• the Forum: all members directly vote. Members can vote in the Forum at their leisure, without attending a meeting. They can also proxy their votes on a topic to any other member.
• the Board: the 5 Boardmembers meet and vote. When the Board and the Forum disagree, the tie is broken by a committee whose membership is chosen in an representative manner.
• the CEO: those issues which are not addressed by the Board and the Forum are decided by the CEO

Most votes in the Forum and the Board need to get 4/7 (about 60%) of the vote in order to pass. This encourages compromise without allowing a small minority to hold up business.

There are also procedures for adjudicating disputes and for admitting new members.

How to participate

If your organization is using Concord Democracy, there are five ways for you to make your voice heard:

1) Discuss and vote on issues in the Forum. If you know someone who knows more than you about some topic, you can proxy your Forum votes on that topic to that person (proxies are sent in during elections).

2) Vote for Chairs, the highest office in the organization. For each candidate for Chair, you can vote either 0, +1, or +2.

3) Participate in the selection of the Board by joining a Constituency, and by nominating someone. A Constituency is a group of people who choose a single person, a Delegate, to represent them in the selection of Boardmembers. You can also create a new Constituency, if you can find enough people to support it (a Constituency is only active if, in the previous election, the Constituency received at least 15 votes, or (for smaller organizations) it received at least 1/15th of the total votes available in the organization, rounded down). To support a new constituency, vote for it during elections. During elections, you can also nominate any one member (including yourself) to (potentially) join the Board.

4) Volunteer for forum committees and dispute screening panels. Forum Committees review proposals and Dispute Screening Panels help adjudicate disputes. Any Delegate, or anyone nominated to join the Board, can volunteer (and anyone can nominate themself for the Board in order to become eligible to volunteer). You must join a Forum Committee in order to create a new proposal in the Forum.

5) Run for office. The offices are:

• Chair. The three Chairs protect the organization's values, and run meetings. (voted upon by all members in regular elections)
• Boardmember. The five Boardmembers select the CEO and, in conjuction with the Forum, set policy. (four are elected by the Delegates, and the fifth is chosen randomly out of all nominees)
• Delegate. The Delegates elect four of the Boardmembers, and fill most of the seats in Dispute Screening Panels and Committees. (each Delegate is chosen by a Constituency)
• CEO. The CEO executes the organization's policy. (elected by the Boardmembers)
• Judge. Judges run dispute resolution. (elected by the Judicial Selection Committee)
• Forum committee co-chair. Each Committee has 3 Committee Co-Chairs who run Committee proceedings. (voted upon by all members, in the Forum)
• Judicial Selection Committee (JSC) member. The JSC selects Judges. (3 members elected by the Board, 2 by the Judges, 1 by the Chairs, and 1 randomly out of all nominees for the Board)

todo

write a presentation introducing in terms of/justifying in contrast to Robert's rules for boards; and write another one contrasting to governments

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