Decision Rules
The level of agreement necessary to finalize a decision is known as a decision rule. Possible decision rules for consensus vary within the following range:
- Unanimous agreement
- Unanimous consent (See agreement vs consent below)
- Unanimous agreement minus one vote or two votes
- Unanimous consent minus one vote or two votes
- Super majority thresholds (90%, 80%, 75%, two-thirds, and 60% are common).
- Simple Majority
- Executive committee decides
- Person-in-charge decides
In groups that require unanimous agreement or consent (unanimity) to approve group decisions, if any participant objects, they can block consensus according to the guidelines described below. These groups use the term consensus to denote both the discussion process and the decision rule. Other groups use a consensus process to generate as much agreement as possible, but allow decisions to be finalized with a decision rule that does not require unanimity. In this case, someone who has a 'block' or strong objection will still have to live with the decision made.
Read more about this topic: Consensus Decision-making
Famous quotes containing the words decision and/or rules:
“Concision in style, precision in thought, decision in life.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“The average educated man in America has about as much knowledge of what a political idea is as he has of the principles of counterpoint. Each is a thing used in politics or music which those fellows who practise politics or music manipulate somehow. Show him one and he will deny that it is politics at all. It must be corrupt or he will not recognize it. He has only seen dried figs. He has only thought dried thoughts. A live thought or a real idea is against the rules of his mind.”
—John Jay Chapman (1862–1933)