Consensus Polling is about winning together or refusing to play the game. It is only really appropriate when a group of individuals must collectively solve a problem that affects them all. It seeks to avoid voting for candidate options (see Voting Is Evil) when such a vote would generate winners and losers and thus divide the community that must support the result of the collective decision.
Rather than a menu of candidates to choose from, the entire process is controlled by an evolving Yes/No vote. The vote reflects the suitability of a single community-owned community-developed collaborative solution. All participants are free to change their vote at any time. A yes vote says "I believe the current articulation of our solution is good enough," a no vote says "I have concerns that haven't been adequately addressed by the current solution." Only when the Yes votes pass some very high, pre-specified threshold (e.g., 95%) can the solution proposed be considered to reflect the consensus of the community.
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The 4 Parts of a Consensus Poll
There are four parts of a Consensus Poll. Each part is critical. The following sections describe the mechanics of each of those parts and illustrate them using the following "Odor Mess" example:
Tillamook Oregon is a small dairy farming community on the Oregon Coast. Dairy and tourism are the main drivers of the local economy. The "mess" that the community cares about is this: An odor of cow manure hangs over the town year round.
Handy, the local owner of a hardware store decides to create a Consensus Poll around the "odor mess".
Part 1. Static Only If Contract
- This document is created BEFORE the poll begins and describes exactly what levels of participation, commitment of resources, and consensus of those involved must be achieved in order for the "action plan" to become binding (also specifies any other preset conditions such as a cloture threshold that might be needed for larger scale polls). The only way to change the static "contract" is for the owner of the poll to cancel it and start an entirely new poll. This guarantees that the meaning of pledges and yes/no votes never change: "I agree, but OnlyIf the minimums in the static contract are exceeded."
- Often the language in a consensus poll will include a statement such as "This poll cannot make a negative statement. The results of this poll become meaningful OnlyIf the minimums in the static contract are met. Failure to reach the minimums should not be construed as making a statement of any kind."
Odor Mess Static Contract
- Participation Threshold: At least 50 adult residents of Tillamook must participate
- Consensus Threshold: 95%
- "Go" Timer Threshold: 72 Hours
- Cloture Threshold: 80%
When I participate in this poll I am essentially saying "I'll agree that we as a community are 'done' and have reached a decision if the Consensus Poll as stated succeeds. If the Consensus Poll withers on the vine and nothing ever comes from it, it doesn't mean anything.
Part 2. Yes/No Poll
- A "temperature" reading that allows everyone to see who is voting no and who is voting yes, and to track progress toward the "go" thresholds. Any participant can change their vote from yes to no or from no to yes at any time.
Odor Mess - Yes/No Poll
Yes 30% ... No 70%
Yes ... Handy
No ... Beatrice - see my comments in the forum
Yes ... Ward
No ... Bill - Current version would cripple the local economy, see comments in forum
Yes ... Patricia - Yes
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Part 3. Dynamic Action Plan
- The group of poll participants/pledgers works on the ActionPlan together until it satisfies enough pledgers to pass the "go" thresholds that were laid out in the Static Contract.
Odor Mess - Dynamic Action Plan
Excavate the three acres that the Wilson farm is willing to donate to the project. Then use the nitrogen extraction process that the community in Denmark has used to extract the ...
Part 4. Public Forum
- A place for members voting no to explain their concerns, and for members voting yes to listen to and address the concerns of those who are voting no.
Odor Mess - Public Forum
Beatrice: "I don't want any cows in the valley!"
Handy: "Is it fair to say that ..."
Beatrice: "No, the thing that really matters is ..."
Ward: "Okay, so is this a better restatement of your interests? You want for ..."
Beatrice: "No, I guess I don't really care about the cows, it's the smell and ..."
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Ward: Is it a fair restatement of your interests to say that you "don't want the bad smell because it drives away tourism?"
Beatrice: Yes, thanks Ward. Is it a fair restatement of your interests ...
Comments and Discussion
I've seen this work to end a 3 month deadlock on a contentious issue on OmidyarDotNet (giving money away by an open community). In four days we achieved near-unanimous (92.4% - 61 yes, 5 no) consensus on a group owned plan. -- BrandonCsSanders