Table of Contents/No. 109. Winter 2000

DEPARTMENTS Letters Publisher's Note Reviews Classifieds Reach

FOCUS

Decision Making in Community

Decision Making and Power

Diana Leafe Christian  From the Editor.

How to Make a Decision Without Making a Decision

Tom Atlee  Sometimes a decision just...emerges, observes political activist/philosopher Tom Atlee, when people spend enough time engaged in "deep dialogue."

Fairness and Fun with Multi-Winner Voting

Diana Leafe Christian  Can your community have a great time deciding the annual budget? Two veteran communitarians say Yes.

When People Miss Meetings

Rob Sandelin  What to do when some members don't show up for meetings, by long-time facilitator Rob Sandelin.

• 20 Things You (as a Participant) Can Do to Improve Meetings, by Paul DeLapa and Betty Didcoct

Hand Signals in Group Process

Rosa Zubizarreta and Michael Bridge  Any group can deepen and transform verbal communication with these simple gestures, say Rosa Zubizarreta and Michael Bridge.

"Going Dutch": Sociocracy at Ecovillage of Loudoun County

Tena Meadows O'Rear with John Buck  When this Virginia cohousing community ran aground with consensus, they turned to a European method for help.

• Caroline Estes on Consensus

Building Creative Agreements: Using Dynamic Consensus to Empower Ourselves

Betty Didcoct and Paul DeLapa  Experienced facilitators Betty Didcoct and Paul DeLapa outline the consensus process, as well as the specific consensus method they use.

• When You Don't Want to Use Full Consensus by Lysbeth Borie
• Consensus in Latin American by Bea Briggs

Twelve Myths of Consensus

Betty Didcoct and Paul DeLapa  What's true--and not true--about this often misunderstood process.

Electronic Consensus

Luc Reid  Luc Reid's forming community used consensus on email--and it worked.

• C.T. Butler's "Formal Consensus" Process

Consensus as Spiritual Practice

Brice Wilson  Quakers designed consensus to recognize divine guidance in each individual, and Sirius members apply this in their two-tiered governance system.

• Consensus by Individual Guidance by Betty Didcoct

FEATURES

On the Cohousing Trail in the Pacific Northwest

Diane Margolis  Sociologist/cohouser Diane Margolis discovers that no two cohousing communities are quite the same.

A Pressing need, an Overlooked Treasure

Bo Lozoff  Give Prison-Ashram Project parolees a place in your community, says Bo Lozoff, and get hardworking residents who'll show you the rewards of community through new eyes.

COLUMNS

FELLOWSHIP NEWS - "Inclusivity" Style or "Diversity" Style, Part I

Betty Didcoct

COMMUNITY LIVING WORLDWIDE - Around German Communities to the "Centre of the World"

Bill Metcalf

FEDERATION UPDATE - It Works for Us!

Kat Kinkade

PERIPATETIC COMMUNITARIAN - The Archaeology of Decisions

Geoph Kozeny

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