Whether you work in the corporate world, a nonprofit organization, or the government sector, you likely face the need to work with others to solve problems and make decisions on a daily basis. And you've undoubtedly been frustrated by how laborious and conflict-ridden such group efforts can be. At all levels--from neighborhood block associations to boards of directors of multinational corporations--the consensus building process is highly effective in an increasingly fragmented, contentious society. In addition, the old top-down methods such as Robert's Rules of Orders often prompt more problems then they solve. Consensus helps you to implement better, more creative solutions. It provides a winning alternative to top-down decision making--and even parliamentary procedure. By learning to build consensus, stakeholders come to understand and respect one another's perspectives. The consensus building process allows participants to find solutions and forge agreements that meet everyone's needs--and provides a meaningful basis for effective, long-range implementation of decisions. The Consensus Building Handbook provides a blueprint to help make the process work in your organization, including a practical, quick-reference Short Guide. Plus, you'll find in-depth commentary and seventeen case studies with in-depth commentaries to provide the theoretical basis for this approach. --From publisher's description.

Presents a critical evaluation of a controversial interpretative tool the ECtHR uses to answer morally/politically sensitive human rights questions.

Empowering a community takes more than organizing and mobilizing its people; it takes a simple, yet radical, notion that consensus can be reached by creating mutual self interest between key individuals in the community and players of interest. In Consensus Organizing: Building Communities of Mutual Self Interest, author Mike Eichler shows how even poor and disempowered communities can achieve lasting results by implementing some key consensus organizing strategies. Through personal, lively, and relevant examples, Eichler takes the reader on a road trip through various communities and shows how collectively they were able to reach lasting results by finding key areas where consensus could be reached. Key features: The author shares his twenty-five years of experience as a community organizer, including the development of a national effort to train young people as consensus organizers in diverse locations such as Las Vegas, New Orleans, and New York City. Demonstrates how consensus organizing can be applied to a variety of settings, including public education, housing, economic development, health and crime. Gives readers the opportunity to learn more about themselves: It helps students to see the other side of any situation and understand how common ground can be achieved. It is written in a student-friendly, conversational manner, which will make students feel as if they have taken a journey with the author, struggled with the various communities, won the victories with the disempowered, and had a few laughs along the way. Intended audience: This book can be used as a core textbook for courses in community organizing and as a supplemental volume in various macro social work courses on community practice. It can also be used in departments of social work, urban planning, public administration, and public health.

On Consensus: A Framework for Adaptive Action is a tool in the toolbox of anyone looking to improve decision-making processes in general and to build consensus in particular. The book provides not only a step-by-step approach to building consensus but it also provides a framework for thinking about how to think about consensus. All institutions are built and sustained through some sort of consensus. The degree to which the consensus that underwrites institutions is conscious determines the future viability of collective choices and actions. Democracy is in need of better tools and thinking on consensus. The book provides a leverage for those involved in high stakes decision-making, especially where there is a convergence of governance, development and stewardship. It explores what is required to arrive at a conscious consensus and to build a path towards more adaptive action. Decision-framing... a profound meeting of minds.

Evangelicals stand divided in their view of women in the church. On one side stand complementarians, arguing the full worth of women but assigning them to differing roles. On the other side stand egalitarians, arguing that the full worth of women demands their equal treatment and access to leadership roles. Is there a way to mend the breach and build consensus? Sarah Sumner thinks there is. Avoiding the pitfalls of both radical feminism and reactionary conservatism, she traces a new path through the issues--biblical, theological, psychological and practical--to establish and affirm common ground. Arguing that men and women are both equal and distinct, Sumner encourages us to find ways to honor and benefit from the leadership gifts of both. Men and Women in the Church is a book for all who want a fresh and hope-filled look at a persistent problem.

Should prisoners have voting rights? Should terminally ill patients have a right to assisted suicide? Should same-sex couples have a right to marry and adopt? The book examines how such questions can be resolved within the framework of the European Convention of Human Rights. 'European consensus' is a tool of interpretation used by the European Court of Human Rights as a means to identify evolution in the laws and practices of national legal systems when addressing morally sensitive or politically controversial human rights questions. If European consensus exists, the Court can establish new human rights standards that will be binding across European states. The chapters of the book are structured around three themes: a) conceptualisation of European consensus, its modus operandi and its effects; b) critical evaluation of its legitimacy and of its outputs; c) comparison with similar methods of judicial interpretation in other legal systems.