Community Compact

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1. Decision-Making Norms

We operate by consensus and make decisions through dialog, collaboration, and, when necessary, voting. Members of the organization participate at different levels of decision-making and consent based on their specific roles.

Our decision-making ladder connects four degrees of consent to governance outcomes:

  1. Agreement: a person fully accepts the decision without reservations.
  2. Alignment: a person is in general agreement with the decision, even if they have issues with particular details.
  3. Consent: a person feels that they can abide by the decision, even if they disagree with it.
  4. Objection: a person feels that they cannot act in accordance with the decision, regardless of consequences.
Diagram illustrating that decision-making proceeds from consensus to consent to dissent in descending order of the membership hierarchy.