regarding Sociocracy
Quite a few of the new movements related to the “greening of society” (like: Green politics, cohousing, ecovillages, bioregionalism) started out trying to use consensus process. But it was discovered that consensus can become unwieldy when group size exceeds thirty or forty or fifty.
In a not-so-small association there is too high a likelihood that:
. “group-as-a-whole” decision-making can become an onerous process;
. just one or two individuals will be dispositionally contrary to the extent of often blocking decisions — and therefore impeding forward momentum.
Organizations that are committed to consensus can make modifications that address these concerns. But by the 1990s quite a few groups came to the conclusion that sociocracy works better than consensus.
Here’s a 20-minute introductory video:
