Democracy and Open Space

Fri Sep 6 05:47:05 PDT 2002

At 08:39 AM 9/5/2002 -0700, Chris C. wrote:
>I have always sort of steered away from Open Space as a way of actually
>making decisions, mostly because I couldn't see how it might happen, but
>this conversation is clarifying some things for me and opening some
>doors.
>
>So, I might ask, is it too far to go to say that in the heart of what
>you are saying we can use the process to actually get some decisions?
>How would we do that?  What might be the benefits and pitfalls?

Somebody said -- "Life is all about making choices." I think the same is
true for OS. This may or may not mean voting, but choices get made.
Choosing may be a matter of NOT bringing up an issue. Or the issue may come
up and nobody chooses to discuss it. Or, the issue may come up, people show
up, and discover that The Issue was a simple misunderstanding. The group
recognizes that when it is over it is over, and chooses to go on to
something else. Choices.

For me, the balloting procedure (to avoid the awful word "voting") I use at
the end simply allows people to objectify their choices. There may be
nothing further to do, or a lot -- so the result is not always an "action
plan" -- unless the need is to do nothing.

Having said all of the above -- one thing I would definitely stay away from
is the sort of thing you mention Chris -- where the range of choices is
pre-determined. That just closes the space. So OS can never be a
replacement for the legislative process (Congress, Parliament etc) -- At
the end of the day, those folks have to vote something up or down. The
mistake I think we are making in all our participatory democracies is to
think that Congress/Parliament is the ONLY thing. I see it as the end of
the line, dealing with things that can't get decided in better ways, or
confirming decisions that have all ready been made by the people. This of
course means that the people have to take an active part in the process --
hold what I call Civil Conversations about their situation. Failing that
the people will get what they will get -- which seems to be what is
happening at the moment. The temptation is to blame the politicians. I
think that is wrong. They are just doing what they are paid for. But the
people have abdicated. And those who abdicate can't bitch.

I see Open Space as a marvelous way of holding those essential Civil
Conversations -- which are the essential underpinnings of any well
functioning Democracy. Open Space wherever, however about whatever -- let
the people speak. This puts the People back in play and I think the results
could be amazing. Of course, the notion of Civil Conversations is not my
invention. The New England Town Meeting was/is such a thing. And the
various public forum are (generally) weak attempts to do the same thing. In
most cases, I find all that too slow, too costly, and not terribly
effective. We know OS can do better, and I think we have an obligation to
let it loose. Whenever, however, and wherever possible.

Harrison

Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854 USA
phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.mindspring.com\~owenhh

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