Please see the Introduction to these Vital Conversations to appreciate the wider context and purpose of this Conversation.
In this Vital Conversation, the challenge of participants is to agree upon a viable, best-practice way to actually build a completely new, genuinely democratic, decentralized system of participatory democracy
- as called for by the real democracy movements of the world
- as required in order to accomplish the shift to a life-sustaining civilization in time
- and as scientifically evidenced as necessary for achieving the sustainable and equitable management of the commons
This conversation builds upon former Vital Conversations . Here we assume that participants share fundamental agreements regarding:
- the necessity of decentralizing power and wealth in order to achieve sustainability (Conversation One)
- the nature of the new, genuinely democratic system we propose (Conversation Three)
- the organizational model we advocate so as to best ensure the authenticity and fruitfulness of the proposed democratization process (Conversation Six)
- the strategies we advocate for initiating the direct or participatory democracy – the robust citizenship and active local stewardship or “whole community engagement” – of place-based communities everywhere (Conversation Two)
- the key strategy we advocate for the political empowerment of Local Communities (Conversation Four)
- the strategy we advocate for the building of a “movement of movements” based upon “global solidarity for local self determination” (Conversation Five)
This Vital Conversation is for those who seek the establishment of a genuinely democratic, ecologically-sound, humanly-rewarding and decentralized system.
We may herein note that grassroots social movements refer to the proposed new politico-economic system using a variety of terms, inclusive pf the following:
- participatory democracy
- direct, face-to-face, or radical democracy
- libertarian municipalism or democratic confederalism*
- democratic socialism
- dynamic self governance
- holocracy
- local self governance
- local self determination
- sovereignty
* Democratic Confederalism is a political model based upon building confederations of self-determining municipalities (village or city-state jurisdictions). Please see Libertarian Municipalism – Rejection of the Nation-State and the inspiring Democratic Confederalism of Rojava
Here we seek to clarify and clearly agree upon a strategy and blueprint for building the new decentralized politico-economic system of common aspiration.
To address the issue at hand, participants really need to have already agreed (as mentioned above) upon the organizational model we deem best suited to our purposes: please participate in the Vital Conversation: Ensuring the Authenticity and Fruitfulness of the Democratization Process. The Earth Holocracy Proposal advocates the “Holocratic Circle” as a ‘best-practice’ way to organize collaborative efforts in an egalitarian, transparent, accountable, efficient, horizontal, ethics-based, harmonious and productive manner, and to achieve a genuine and fruitful democratization of society, from the local to global levels.
The Earth Holocracy Proposal advocates adoption of “Holocratic Circle Processes” for the building and management of a transparent, accountable, efficient, decentralized, global “Public Service Body”. Please see Volume Four: The Holocratic Circle.
The Earth Holocracy Proposal advocates “Flipping the Pyramid” – establishing a decentralized system in which Local Communities are on Top.
The “Flipped Pyramid” concept accords with the aspirations of ‘Real Democracy’, Indigenous Self Determination and Local Self Governance Movements worldwide:
“The management of resources and services as well as decisions on matters of public interest must be reduced to the minimum territorial unit in which it is most accessible to those residents responsible for such management or decisions. All services that can be better managed at smaller territorial scales will be managed at this level.”
(The Spanish Movement’s Charter for Democracy)
The “Flipped Pyramid” concept also accords with the science for achieving the sustainable and equitable management of the commons:
Elinor Ostrom’s 8 Design Principles for Managing the Commons:
Design Principle #8
“Build responsibility for governing the common resource in nested tiers from the lowest level up to the entire interconnected system.”
The Earth Holocracy Proposal’s advocated strategy for building the new decentralized system from the grassroots is logical and supremely simple.
So, this is the Earth Holocracy Proposal’s basic blueprint for building the new system.
Building the New Decentralized System from the Grassroots
- Local People’s Assemblies elect members to their Local Circle – which together with all Local Circles forms the highest seat of political power in the new, decentralized system.
- Each Local Circle elects two members to sit with full participatory powers in both their Local Circle and their (thus-formed and respective) “Regional Circles”. Local Circles of a region cooperatively determine the responsibilities and jurisdiction of their Regional Circle.
- Each Regional Circle elects two members to sit with full participatory powers in both their Regional Circle and their (thus-formed), respective “National Circles”. The Regional Circles of a Nation define the responsibilities, and jurisdiction of their National Circle.
- Each National Circle elects two members to sit with full participatory powers in both their National Circle and their (thus-formed and respective) “Geo-Regional Circles”. The National Circles of a Geo-Region define the responsibilities and jurisdiction of their Geo-Regional Circles.
- Each Geo-Regional Circle elects two members to sit with full participatory powers in both their Geo-Regional Circle and the thus-formed Earth Circle at the bottom of the new global socio-politico-economic system. Geo-Regional Circles define the responsibilities and jurisdiction of the Earth Circle.
By means of the proposed holocratic election process, it would be quite feasible to swiftly build a genuinely democratic lattice of transparent and accountable global co-operation and public administration from “the new top-down” – from the local to the global level.
Apropos to determining the area of each local, regional and national jurisdiction, please see also Creating the New World Map from the Grassroots.
Local People’s Assemblies
Even after the proposed new ‘Public Service Body’ is built, it will be necessary to maintain Local Assemblies both as the authentic voice of the will of the people and as essential, self-directed civil organizations serving their Local Communities.
Local People’s Assemblies – empowered local civil organizations – are vital components of the proposed new system, performing numerous vital functions:
1) Facilitating the local community’s self-organization, self-direction and self-management so as to best ensure their own sustainable prosperity and locally-tuned, collective advancement
2) Guiding and monitoring the new public administration (the Circles of the proposed, globally-interlinked “Public Service Body of Earth Holocracy”)
- Ensuring that the new system operates transparently and accountably – effectively delivering assigned public services in strict accordance with clear agreements
- Using web-based mechanisms for active citizenship – facilitating not only citizen poles and referendums, but also citizen-based development of policy and action proposals, at all levels of influence and decision-making; the live monitoring of the new administration’s meetings (with means for live interaction); etc.
Can we Agree – while the opportunity is yet before us?
This Vital Coversation is currently the primary vehicle for participants in the Global Holocratic Assembly to further the GHA’s 6th Priority: Building the new genuinely Democratic and Decentralized Politico-Economic system from the Grassroots
Please leave a Comment below to activate your participation in this Vital Conversation. Thank you.
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