We the People: Consenting to a Deeper Democracy

We the People describes a new method of governing ourselves that creates more inclusive and efficient organizations. The United States Declaration of Independence asserted that all human beings are created equally and endowed by society with the unquestionable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In practice, however, these rights are often limited to the majority, the rich, or the property owners. Sociocracy ensures these rights to everyone, and in the process, makes profit-making businesses more profitable and non-profit organizations more effective. Using consent and collaboration as a foundaation for decision-making and communications, it builds a strong governance structure that extends from the mailroom to the boardroom and from the client to the funders. Using the new sciences of cybernetics, systems thinkng, and complexity theory, it creates organizations that are as powerful, self-organizing, and self-correcting as the natural world.

John Buck was the first native English-speaking consultant certified by the Sociocratisch Centrum in Rotterdam to teach and guide implementation of the sociocratic circle organization method. After he learned to read Dutch to gain full access to the literature and to study at the Sociocratisch Centrum, Buck has helped translate a number of key documents from the Dutch. With a BA from Brown University, he later completed an MA in Quantitative Sociology at George Washington University in order to measure the effects of sociocracy on Dutch workers. His thesis confirmed the effectiveness of the sociocratic method in increasing worker commitment to their companies. Now CEO of Governance Alive, a consulting firm that specializes in new governance methods, Buck has extensive experience managing people in both government and corporate sectors. He runs workshops, consults, and serves on the boards of sociocratic organizations. He lives with his wife in Silver Spring, MD. Sharon Villines, MFA, is a writer and artist and Mentor Emeritus at Empire State College, SUNY, where she mentored adult students in the arts, including arts management. Coauthor of Orientation to College: A Reader on Becoming an Educated Person, she now writes on a variety of topics related to community organization and governance, using her experience in nonprofit organizations, labor unions, universities, schools, religious and political action groups, cohousing, and other cooperative enterprises as a basis for helping others apply sociocratic principles and methods. She lives in a cohousing community in Washington, DC.