> And there are a lot of people with bad group experiences with consensus.
There are alot of people who have had bad experiences with group meetings, protests, and what have you, but that doesn't mean that we throw the baby out with the bathwater. Consensus does work and is the most democratic form of decision-making around. Many groups have problems using it because many of its members aren't educated about how the process works or they have problems with other group dynamics issues that subvert the process. Another big problem, at least here in the US, is that many of us are used to other forms of hierarchical decision-making and have other baggage that we bring to the process.
> But you didn't mention those who secretly prefer hierarchy and
> therefore choose consensus, either. I suppose consensus can work fine in
> smaller groups--like a group of 5 roommates sharing a household, where it
> seems like possibly the only reasonable way to conduct affairs.
I've seen consensus used successfully in groups of hundreds. Look, consensus does work and it works for a wide range of groups. The stuff that people complain about when it comes to consensus are peripheral group issues that have nothing to do with the process.
> But for other, larger groups it cedes an extraordinary amount of power to
> a minority (in many cases to just one person) allowing them to railroad
> almost anything the majority prefers. That's one of the largest problems
> with capitalism and other authoritarian systems.
>
> Modified forms of consensus are better inasmuch as they more closely
> approach democracy, just like modified forms of any system are better
> inasmuch as they're more democratic.
There are other forms of modified consensus that work for certain types of groups, but then there is this nonsense about "we'll use consensus and then use majority rule if we have a deadlock." Not only is this extremely stupid and shallow, but it demonstrates that the people advocating this kind of system don't even understand how consensus works.
Don't even get me started on campaigns by Trots to spread confusion and disdain for this democratic process.
Chuck0