Reading 6 --- WANG HANPING

 1. Summary

The Wiktionary definitions for consensus speak of “general agreement,” “without active opposition to the proposed course of action.” A more scholarly source gives a similar definition: consensus is overwhelming agreement “which does not mean unanimity.”  The encyclopedic article “Consensus Decision-Making” lists requirements of consensus that, if achieved, can also be considered benefits: inclusive, participatory, cooperative , egalitarian , and solution-oriented. This is not unlike the meetings of one of the better-known practitioners of consensus: the Quakers. Michael Sheeran, a Jesuit scholar, writes of the history and practice of Quaker consensus in Beyond Majority Rules: Voteless Decisions in the Religious Society of Friends . In his study Sheeran notes nine features of Quaker meetings and decision making.  One of those characteristics, central to the Quaker spiritual experience, has no analog in Wikipedia: silent periods at the start of meetings and when conflict arises. The characteristic of “small meetings” sometimes holds in the Wikipedia context for issues local to an article or project, but not at the larger scale. The remaining seven characteristics roughly parallel Wikipedia norms: unanimity and a lack of voting (e.g., “voting is evil”); pausing when agreement cannot be reached; participation by all those with ideas on the subject; listening with an open mind; facilitators, but no “leaders”; egalitarianism; and a factual-focus.


2.Interesting points

Consensus certainly seems like an appropriate means for decision making in a community with egalitarian values and a culture of good faith. Furthermore, this form of decision making has been central to online collaboration since the Internet’s start. Yet, while consensus might seem simple enough in theory, it is rarely so in practice.


3.Discussion points

Such a consensual policy may seem reasonable, but it will not work well in the actual implementation process. What is a good way to deal with it?

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