Robert's Rules of Order online

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We desperately need Robert's Rule of Order* specifically adopted for online use so that important deliberative meetings now being held by government officials at a time and place certain, can be attended by the general public online regardless of where they happen to live and at any time.

The key to direct participation in government by we, the people, is the adaptation of Robert's Rule of Order for use online.

Please give me your support for this important innovation that will dramatically increase participatory government by the public. How cool is that for a democracy?
ex animo
davidfarrar
* At present there is no Robert's Rules of Order specifically designed for online use.

Why Is This Idea Important?

Just think how much citizens could participate in creating better government if the governmental officials meetings were held online to allow the "Public" to have an opportunity to have their input added to the record. This would mean citizens who didn't happen to live in the area where these important decisions were being made that effected them, could now participate online from anywhere at any time. All we need is Robert's Rules adopted specifically for online use, and our democracy will never be the same. Please give me your support. Thank you. ex animo davidfarrar

Idea # 278New Strategies and Techniques, internet, deliberative meetings, public meetings, public input

Comments

Nicholas Dewar 10 months ago

I like the idea of developing deliberative processes specifically for the on-line environment. But, if we're looking for ways to support "collaboration" (along with transparency and participation), I believe that we'd be better off if we develop alternative processes for helping participants develop agreement. Roberts Rules emphasize maintaining order rather than providing the best way to collaboratively develop solutions. Collaboration can be messy, and we need to be ready to accept that, to let go of the emphasis on a well-ordered process, to take our attention away from the formality of procedure and work together in an informal environment where rules are not the issue, but where the focus is on collaboratively solving the problem.

bluesky222 10 months ago

I agree with the previous comment. Robert's Rules is too much order and not enough participatory incentives (in fact it puts people off). But something for the inclusionary organization of people on the internet would be great.

david.is.farrar 10 months ago

But there is no better set of rules to insure that all have an equal chance to speak and to be heard than Robert's Rules of Order in a deliberative setting. I do hope you understand what I mean when I say a "deliberative" setting.
A deliberative setting is where a problem is stated and a decision must be made that will best address the stated problem. This is not a meeting where a group of people all gather around and group-talk with each other and somehow come to a commonly shard conclusion.
Under a deliberative setting there is a set number of decision-makers (usually government bureaucrats or elected officials). At present these decision-makers depend on a ridiculously small number of "experts" and "public" input to help them make their decisions. But if we could have a generally adopted set of cyber Rules of Order, the "public" could be vastly bigger, encompassing James Surowiecki's vision of the benefits of the "Wisdom of the Crowds" effect, with many, many more "experts" participating as well. All because they would no longer have to take the time, incur the expense of traveling to where the meeting is actually taking place to give their input.
Even if you don't understand the point, you must see that "collaborating online will be vastly more efficient than collaborating in person, at a time and place certain.
All we need is a set of rules that will allow everyone a voice, allow all to speak and to be accurately heard by the decision-makers -- which is all Robert's Rules of Order has guarantied for over two hunderd years.
So please re-consider your vote and help move this issue forward.
Thank you for your consideration.
ex animo
davidfarrar

Robert David STEELE Vivas 9 months ago

Do not lose faith in your good idea. Most people these days have no idea what Robert's Rules of Order are, or how to behave in a civil manner or how to access real truthful information about anything now being ideologically debated.

This is a lovely elegant idea that merits implementation.

deanna 9 months ago

I support the comments of those who are pointing to the limitations of Roberts Rules of Order. They are outdated, squelch creativity, and do not lead to innovation - they assume "reasoned debate" and a competition of carefully crafted proposals are the best answer to our complex social and economic issues. Our current government processes are already using this process to make decisions and it seems to generate partial answers that no one is really satisfied with and that don't really address the underlying causes of the problem. There are far better collective decision-making processes out there... Choice-creating, consensus building, to name a few. Check out: http://www.co-intelligence.org/I-comparisonRR-CC-DF.html for a comparison between Roberts Rules of Order, Consensus-building, and Choice-creating.

douglas 9 months ago

Please see our effort: e-Liberate: Roberts Rules of Order for online, distributed meetings, http://opengov.ideascale.com/akira/dtd/3808-4049. It works!

Note to critics: We aren't saying that this is the ONLY way, only that it's one way. It's also a way that is in daily use by thousands of organizations around the world.

Maybe this is applicable: don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. (Especially true when the only perfect solution is something that someone imagines *could* be perfect.

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