The world is less democratic than it was 15 years ago. Peoples’ growing malaise with democracy has been a disturbing trend that dates back to the 1970s. The way we govern our communities – neighbourhood associations, corporate boards, regional elections – reflects how we value power. Cooperative academic leaders, Karen Miner and Sonja Novkovic, have ideas for how we might make governance more democratic.
Cooperative Governance
The ideas below highlight different governance models and tactics that illuminate democracy through transparency and collaboration.
A direct democracy or pure democracy is a type of democracy where the people govern directly (a referendum).
A representative democracy is an indirect democracy where authority is held by the people’s representatives.
Participatory democracy strives to create opportunities for all members of a population to make meaningful contributions to decision-making, and seeks to broaden the range of people who have access to such opportunities.
Consensus democracy is the application of consensus decision-making. It takes into account a broad range of opinions, including minority views.
Deliberative democracy is compatible with both representative democracy and direct democracy. Also called discursive democracy, it is a form of democracy in which deliberation (not mere voting) is central to decision-making. It adopts elements of both consensus decision-making and majority rule.
Associative democracy places the emphasis on freedom through voluntary and democratically self-governing associations.
Industrial democracy involves workers in decision making, sharing responsibility and authority in the workplace.
Sociocracy or dynamic governance is a democratic system of governance based on consent decision making, circle organization, and double-linked representation.
It can be hard to reconcile cooperative, democratic governance with speed. Inclusive decision-making takes more time. This said, perhaps one sign of a healthy community is that folks take time to make hard decisions.