Plaintext
Community
Rules
Simple Templates
for Great
Communities
A project of the Media Enterprise Design Lab at the
University of Colorado Boulder
Created by Cassandra Dana, Drew Hornbein,
Vincent Russell, Nathan Schneider
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This means
you’re welcome to share it as you wish, as long as you credit
the original source and use an equivalent license.
Published summer 2021
Invitation
Creating communities has never been easier.
Online social networks enable groups to
form among people who might never oth-
erwise meet—across borders, even within
neighborhoods, and around common causes
that might otherwise remain isolated and
underground. Getting involved in a commu-
nity can be as easy as pressing “join.” But
the technology can make community appear
easier than it really is. Groups form, grow,
and begin to thrive before they can consider
how they will share power and deal with the
conflicts that inevitably arise. Because many
corporate social media platforms benefit
from bottomless argument and conflict—it
feeds more data about us to advertisers,
after all—they are not designed to support
problem solving and good governance.
Community Rules is a simple tool to help
make great communities even better and
healthier. It includes nine templates for or-
ganizational structures that communities can
choose from, combine, or react against. The
templates here are not meant to represent
a complete set of possible arrangements.
They are a provisional set to help spur much
broader explorations, and to invite critique.
Each of the templates includes example prac-
titioners to illustrate how groups use that
organizational structure. These templates are
also available through a Web app we have
created at CommunityRule.info, where you
can customize them according to the needs
of your group.
Why rules?
The feminist scholar and into cults of personality or sti-
activist Jo Freeman wrote fling polarization, rather than
a famous essay in the early empowering democracies. For
1970s about a pattern she groups that want to avoid this,
saw forming among fellow Community Rules offers some
activists at the time: “The options for where to begin.
Tyranny of Structurelessness.”
She warned that in groups But rules should not be an end
that purport to be leaderless in themselves. The health of
and non-hierarchical, leaders any community depends above
and hierarchies emerge any- all on the culture and relation-
way, usually among socially ships it cultivates. Rules can
privileged participants. These serve as a foundation, which
shadow structures can be keep a house from sliding
nearly impossible to remove. into the mud, but the house
Freeman encouraged fellow itself is made of other things.
activists to adopt simple, Rules inevitably constrain our
explicit forms of “democratic actions and our possibilities.
structuring.” Bring the power They are important to have for
structure into the light of when they’re needed, but they
day, so participants know do not produce great commu-
how to use and challenge it. nities all on their own.
Tyrannies of structurelessness
seem to recur online with par-
ticular frequency. This is aided
and abetted by the “implicit
feudalism” of social-media
software; our technology
assumes that there should be
admins or mods with nearly
absolute power, that the best
ways of dealing with conflict
are through censorship or
exile. Despite the democratiz-
ing potential of the Internet,
online communities can turn
Points of inspiration
The templates presented arose during the Covid-19 pan-
herein have long histories, only demic. One of those groups,
some of which are well-under- the Rocky Mountain Mutual
stood today. The name of the Aid Network, has been an
CommunityRule app comes ongoing partner.
from what archaeologists
Any attempt to draw from such
call a two thousand-year-old
diverse sources runs the risk of
document found in Israel-
appropriation—of taking com-
Palestine, describing the rules
munities’ cultural heritage
of a utopian community. The
without permission or due re-
use of “rule” as the name of
spect. This is what happened,
a community’s constitution
for instance, when the “fram-
comes from the Latin regula,
ers” of the US Constitution
such as the sixth-century Rule
drew selective inspiration from
of St. Benedict, a guidebook for
Haudenosaunee peoples (or
monasteries still in use today.
Iroquois Confederacy), to cre-
Council structures, such as in
ate a government that would
the Circles template, can be
rob Native land and devastate
found in Indigenous commu-
Native people. As you develop
nities the world over. Random
rules for your communities,
selection of decision-makers,
please be aware of the cultural
which you will find in the Jury
contexts you might draw from
template in this booklet, was
for inspiration. To build a
used in ancient Athens for
shared future of societies that
many kinds of government ser-
are accountable and participa-
vice. The Benevolent Dictator
tory, the world needs shared
structure is widespread, from
repositories of rules that
tribal chiefs to business own-
enable communities to adopt,
ers, but the term comes to us
modify, and share improve-
through the culture of open-
ments on rules from other
source software.
communities. But this should
These templates have emerged happen as much as possible
through non-scientific experi- in a spirit of attribution and
ence, online and off. They were respect.
road-tested through collabora-
tions in the summer of 2020
with mutual aid groups that
How to use this book
You can use this book in many ways. Reading it from start to
finish is probably not the best one. Skip around and explore
the templates and their practitioners. If your community
resonates strongly with one, open the book to it and attach it
to the wall where you meet. You can use the blank patterns at
the front and back of this book to create your own rule icons.
You can also download printable, poster-sized versions at
CommunityRule.info/book.
Which template is the right graphical interface. When it
starting point for your commu- is ready, you can publish your
nity? Flip through them, and rule to the platform’s public
look for words that resonate. library, or export it privately
Where you find words you for you and your fellow com-
like, try on the template: Read munity members.
through it, imagining what it
May the pages to come help
would look like if your commu-
strengthen your community
nity adopted it. Does it fit? Try
and prepare it for the challeng-
another template, perhaps one
es ahead. May they also lead
that doesn’t resonate at all ini-
you into invention, creativity,
tially. How does that one fit?
and communion with the many,
One template might describe
many ways people throughout
roughly where your communi-
history have come together for
ty is now, while another might
their common good.
point toward where you want
it to become—be sure to rec-
ognize the difference.
If you want to customize a tem-
plate for the specific needs of
your group, scan the QR code
on that template or visit the
associated CommunityRule.
info Web address. There, you
can click “customize” and
adapt the template however
you like using the platform’s
Benevolent
dictator
Consensus
Circles
Do-ocracy
Elected board
Jury
Petition
Self-appointed
board
The benevolent dictator holds ultimate
decision-making power, until the group is
ready for a more inclusive structure.
Values
• Servant leadership
• Singular vision
• Voluntarism
Membership
Participation is open to anyone who
wants to join, but the benevolent dicta-
tor can remove participants at will.
Structure
The benevolent dictator has authority
and can change the group’s governance
as necessary. The benevolent dictator
can invite participants to help with
managing the group. When the group
is sufficiently mature, the benevolent
dictator will establish a more inclusive
structure.
Process
The benevolent dictator is responsible
for implementing—or delegating imple-
mentation of—policies and other deci-
sions. If participants are not happy with
the benevolent dictator’s leadership,
they may voice their concerns or leave
the group.
Customize at
CommunityRule.info/create/?r=benevolent_dictator
Practitioners
Black Lives Matter
Global Network
Foundation
Black Lives Matter Global Network
Foundation is a decentralized organiza-
tion with multiple chapters in various
cities that organize to build local
power to intervene in violence inflicted
on Black communities. Although it is
not the sole organization in the Black
Lives Matter movement, it is one of
the most prominent and serves as the
fundraising body, grantmaking entity,
and action-oriented think tank of the
movement.
Governance
Originally founded in 2013 by Alicia
Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal
Tometi, as of 2020, the organization
is led solely by Cullors, who is the only
board member and executive director.
Learn More
BlackLivesMatter.com/about
Python Contributor Covenant
Python is a popular, open-source pro- Coraline Ada Ehmke developed
gramming language that emphasizes Contributor Covenant in 2014 as a
code readability to aid programmers in code of conduct for open-source soft-
writing clear, logical code. ware projects at a time when there was
widespread resistance to such agree-
Governance ments. Within several years, many of
Guido van Rossum created Python, the most prominent software projects
and served as the benevolent dicta- had adopted it, including Linux, Node.
tor before stepping down from the js, and thousands more.
position in 2018. Upon van Rossum’s
Governance
resignation, the Python Software
Foundation adopted an elected board In 2020, Ehmke used an early ver-
model of governance. The new model sion of CommunityRule to create
employs a five-person steering com- a GOVERNANCE.md file in the
mittee elected by core developers that Contributor Covenant’s GitHub
determines standardized practices for repository, naming her “benevolent
the programming language. dictator for life.” But the following year,
she migrated Contributor Covenant to
the Organization for Ethical Source,
a democratically member-governed
organization that she co-founded.
Learn More Learn more
LWN.net/Articles/775105 Contributor-Covenant.org
Units called circles have the ability to decide
and act on matters in their domains, which
their members agree on through a council.
Values
• Decentralization
• Delegation
• Trust
Membership
To join, a person must be welcomed
into a particular circle according to its
policies.
Structure
Representatives of circles regularly meet
in a council to coordinate efforts and
determine the domains of each circle,
as well as to add or remove circles from
the council. A circle can create roles for
its members and assign authority over
specified sub-domains.
Process
Circles and the council use consent to
make decisions. Consent means that
nobody presents a serious objection to
a proposal.
Customize at
CommunityRule.info/create/?r=circles
Practitioners
Sustainable Economies
Law Center
Sustainable Economies Law Center
(SELC) supports community resilience
and economic empowerment through
essential legal tools. They provide
education, research, advice, and
advocacy that promote sustainable
communities.
Governance
SELC operates with a system of
distributed decision-making. Semi-
autonomous circles of staff and
volunteers are responsible for SELC
programs. These program circles
are situated within larger circles of
accountability.
Learn More
TheSELC.org
Meerkat Media Resist
Meerkat Media is a cooperatively Based in Boston, Resist redistributes
owned production company and artist resources to support communities and
collective based in New York. The movements working for justice and lib-
organization consists of independent eration. Through radical philanthropy,
artists who share resources, provide Resist provides critical early funding to
mutual aid, and collaborate for the those on the forefront of change.
purposes of artistic development.
Governance
Governance Resist is comprised of a board of
Artists associated with the Meerkat directors, a staff collective, and three
Media Collective receive a monthly decision-making bodies. Each deci-
stipend to pursue independent or sion-making body has specific func-
collaborative projects. Commissioned tions and authorities as dictated by the
projects are democratically run board of directors. Overlap and collab-
through the Meerkat Media Workers oration between the decision-making
Cooperative. bodies ensures cohesion within the
organization.
Learn More Learn More
MeerkatMedia.org Resist.org
Decisions that affect the group collectively
should involve participation of all
participants.
Values
• Creativity
• Empathy
• Solidarity
Membership
New participants may join as long as
no others object. Participants may be
removed if a proposal to do so passes
the consensus process.
Structure
People who make proposals that the
group agrees on is responsible for its
implementation, delegating as necessary
and as participants are willing to help.
Process
Any participant may make a proposal at
any group meeting to which all partici-
pants are invited. The proposal should
be discussed and modified through
open conversation in order to address all
concerns. A decision is made only if there
are no serious objections remaining.
Customize at
CommunityRule.info/create/?r=consensus
Practitioners
Caribbean pirates
During the Golden Age of Piracy (circa
1650–1730), many Caribbean pirate
crews of European descent operated as
limited democracies. Pirate communi-
ties were some of the first settler-col-
onizer groups to institute a system of
checks and balances for governance in
the Caribbean and North America.
Governance
While pirate captains frequently pos-
sessed decision-making power during
an expedition, they were appointed
and deposed with a mandate from the
crew. Articles of agreement among
a crew typically required unanimous
consent.
Learn More
RhizomeNetwork.files.
wordpress.com/2010/12/
history_of_consensus_jan2012_v2.pdf
Indaba CECOSESOLA
Pronounced IN-DAR-BA, Indaba Founded in 1967 CECOSESOLA is
is a form of community gathering one of Venezuela’s oldest and most
developed among the Zulu and Xhosa widely recognized worker cooperatives.
peoples in southern Africa. It has been The organization currently serves as a
adopted in international delibera- non-hierarchal, participatory network
tions such as the 2015 Paris climate for associated grassroots cooperatives
agreement. and community groups.
Governance Governance
In an Indaba process, participants CECOSESOLA is a consensus-based
avoid lengthy debate by stating at the cooperative based on mutual trust
outset what outcomes they cannot ac- and respect. Everyday decisions can
cept, and then suggesting proposals for be made by individuals or subgroups,
common ground. The process encour- but must adhere to a common criteria
ages listening, relationship-building, that is established and revised through
and mutual respect. member consensus.
Learn More
Learn more Boell.de/en/2016/01/21/venezuela-we-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indaba are-one-big-conversation
Those who take initiative to do something in
the group can decide how they do it.
Values
• Bias for action
• Consultation
• Decentralization
Membership
New participants may join as long as
no others object. Participants may be
removed if a proposal to do so passes
the consensus process.
Structure
People who make proposals that the
group agrees on is responsible for its
implementation, delegating as necessary
and as participants are willing to help.
Process
Any participant may make a proposal at
any group meeting to which all partici-
pants are invited. The proposal should
be discussed and modified through
open conversation in order to address all
concerns. A decision is made only if there
are no serious objections remaining.
Customize at
CommunityRule.info/create/?r=do-ocracy
Practitioners
Word Up Community
Bookshop
Word Up is a multi-lingual community
bookshop in New York. Members are
committed to cultivating a space for
art, education, and empowerment that
benefits individuals and the communi-
ty at large.
Governance
Word Up is a collective run by over 60
neighborhood residents. They strive
for consensus in decision making but
ultimately provide weighted power to
those able to execute the work.
Learn More
WordUpBooks.wordpress.com
Edgeryders Social.coop
Edgeryders is a think tank and online As an alternative to corporate-owned
social network working to create widely social media networks, Social.coop,
beneficial and self-sustaining projects. part of the “fediverse” social network,
This means projects are able to gener- pioneers an open approach to co-own-
ate enough value to compensate those ing and co-operating our online plat-
working on them. forms. Governance takes place through
the decision-making platform Loomio.
Governance
Governance
Any member with the interest and re-
sources to pursue a project may do so Tasks are done through voluntary
without permission. Members check in committees, although some roles come
on each other’s projects to ensure they with small stipends. Any member may
are legal and do not pose a threat to make a proposal for a policy, which
Edgeryders’ infrastructure. can be passed through a vote of the
membership. All financial transactions
are public.
Learn More
Edgeryders.eu/t/principles-for-
Learn more
collaboration-and-operations-in-
edgeryders/8729 Social.coop/about
An elected board determines policies and
organizes their implementation.
Values
• Delegation
• Representation
• Servant leadership
Membership
The board sets policies for membership
and removal.
Structure
A board is responsible for making deci-
sions and implementing them, including
by delegating necessary work to others.
Process
Any community participant can be a
nominee for board positions. In regularly
scheduled elections, the nominees with
the largest number of votes become
board members. The board makes deci-
sions by majority vote.
Customize at
CommunityRule.info/create/?r=elected_board
Practitioners
Participatory
Budgeting Greensboro
Commission
Participatory Budgeting (PB)
Greensboro is a democratic process
whereby residents of Greensboro,
North Carolina, decide how to spend
$500,000 of city funds. Each PB cycle
lasts 2 years. During that time, resi-
dents submit ideas, and PB volunteers
vet those submissions and turn them
into project proposals. Residents then
vote on which projects to fund.
Governance
The Greensboro PB Commission
is comprised of eleven volunteer
community members, including two
people from each of Greensboro’s
five city council districts and one at-
large member. The commissioners are
appointed by city council members to
recommend PB projects, funding, and
program guidelines. The commission
approves decisions through a majority
vote of commissioners.
Learn More
Greensboro-nc.gov/
departments/budget-evaluation/
participatory-budgeting
Usha Multipurpose SEWA Cooperative
Cooperative Society Federation
Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Descended from the Self-Employed
Society is a cooperatively managed Women’s Association, founded in the
financial institution that strives to pro- state of Gujarat in 1971, the SEWA
vide economic stability for sex workers Cooperative Federation supports
in West Bengal, India. The organization women-led businesses. It represents
is managed by and exclusively serves several hundred thousand women
sex workers. workers in over one hundred coopera-
tives, supporting member businesses’
Governance collective power and local autonomy.
Usha is governed by a nine-person
Governance
board of directors. Directors are
elected through a two phase system. The federation’s members, which are
Members nominate and elect forty five themselves cooperatives governed by
representatives. These representatives their worker-members, elect a board
then elect individuals to serve on the of nine to fifteen members. This board
board of directors. governs the federation and elects its
president.
Learn More Learn more
UshaCoop.com SewaFederation.org/about-us
Proposals are shaped and decided on by
randomly selected juries.
Values
• Equality
• Participation
• Study
Membership
Juries set policies for membership
and removal.
Structure
Temporary juries form by a random
selection.
Process
All participants have the right
to initiate proposals, sign them,
and serve on juries. If a certain
percentage of participants signs
a proposal, a jury is formed to study it,
revise it, and agree on it unanimously.
A proposal agreed on by a jury becomes
binding for the group.
Customize at
CommunityRule.info/create/?r=jury
Practitioners
Australian Citizens’
Parliament
Australia’s first Citizens’ Parliament
was held for three days in 2009
and consisted of ordinary citizens
from across the country who gath-
ered to deliberate about how to
improve Australia’s political system.
Participants identified fundamental
characteristics of a healthy democratic
political system, and then generated
thirteen recommendations that the
national government could implement
to improve democratic governance in
Australia.
Governance
Nine thousand Australians were ran-
domly selected and invited to partici-
pate in the Citizens’ Parliament, with
30% expressing a desire to participate.
From that pool of 30%, organizers ran-
domly selected 150 people to join the
parliament. All citizen parliamentarians
had the ability to propose policies and
the right to vote on all proposals, with
majority voting determining whether
the proposal would move forward.
Learn More
CitizensParliament.org.au
Ancient Athens Forest of Dean District
Citizen Jury
Ancient Athens is widely associated In 2018 two major hospitals in South
with democratic processes. Although West England were slated to close.
it was not the only or the first ancient The Gloucestershire Care Services
Greek city-state to employ democratic National Health Trust sought to re-
means of governance, robust record place the two hospitals with one new,
keeping has enabled the study and strategically placed, facility.
influence of Athenian democracy
(circa 600-300 BCE). Governance
A group of eighteen residents were
Governance selected to form the jury responsible
Officials were selected at random for determining the location of the new
from male citizens who had served in hospital. The jury considered demo-
the military. Officials were randomly graphics, potential population growth,
rotated and served a limited term to and transportation before voting on a
ensure the continuation of a citizen-led final location.
government.
Learn More
Learn More
Marxists.org/archive/james-clr/
works/1956/06/every-cook.htm CNDP.us/forest-of-dean-citizens-jury
All participants can propose and vote on
proposals for the group.
Values
• Equality
• Initiative
• Majority rule
Membership
Petitions set policies for membership
and removal.
Structure
Any structures must be established by
petition.
Process
All participants have the right to initiate
proposals, sign them, and vote in result-
ing referendums. If a certain percentage
of participants signs a proposal, it
goes to a referendum. If a majority of
participants vote for it within a certain
period of time, it becomes binding for
the group.
Customize at
CommunityRule.info/create/?r=petition
Practitioners
Decide Madrid
Decide Madrid is a citizen participation
platform that enables residents to col-
lectively draft and vote on legislation.
Governance
The Madrid City Council encourages
citizen involvement in governance
through the use of Decide Madrid.
Citizens work together to produce
and ratify legislation that benefits the
entire community
Learn More
Decide.madrid.es
Rochester-Monroe Citizen Petitions
Anti-Poverty Initiative of South African
Parliament
The Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty In South Africa, any citizen can submit
Initiative is a community collaboration a petition to Parliament as a form of
that seeks to foster systemic change, public participation in law-making.
address structural racism, and reduce Citizen-initiated petitions can be
poverty in Rochester, New York. approved or denied by Parliament,
offering opportunities for the direct
Governance involvement of citizens in crafting laws.
Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty
Governance
Initiative centers self-sufficiency and
participatory budgeting. Anyone in the All citizen-initiated petitions must
community can propose a project. The be sponsored by at least one member
community votes on proposed projects of Parliament (MP) to be considered
to determine which are most beneficial in Parliament, and petitioners can
and fundable. approach any MP for sponsorship. The
sponsoring MP formally presents the
petition to Parliament, and the peti-
tion proceeds through the law-making
process like any other bill.
Learn more
Learn More Parliament.gov.za/
EndingPovertyNow.org how-to-petition-parliament
A board that selects its own members
determines policies and organizes their
implementation.
Values
• Delegation
• Meritocracy
• Servant leadership
Membership
The board sets policies for membership
and removal.
Structure
A board is responsible for making deci-
sions and implementing them, including
by delegating necessary work to others.
The board elects its own members.
Process
The board makes decisions by majority
vote.
Customize at
CommunityRule.info/create/?r=self-appointed_board
Practitioners
People Powered
People Powered is a non-governmental
organization that serves as a global
hub for participatory democracy. It fo-
cuses on supporting leaders in Africa,
Eastern Europe, and Latin America by
sharing resources, providing training,
offering fundraising support, and
creating networking opportunities for
participatory democracy organizations
and advocates.
Governance
Local, regional, and national organiza-
tions can apply to become an affiliated
member with People Powered and ben-
efit from that organization’s resources.
Membership applications are reviewed
and approved by People Powered’s
staff. People Powered is governed by an
eight-member board of directors, with
existing board members collectively
deciding when to appoint new board
members and who those members will
be.
Learn more
PeoplePoweredHub.org/about
The Elders Facebook Oversight
Board
The Elders is an international nongov- The Facebook Oversight Board is a
ernmental organization of public fig- body of twenty members that makes
ures, including senior politicians, peace consequential content moderation de-
activists, and human rights advocates, cisions on the social media platforms
originally brought together by Nelson Facebook and Instagram. It is the final
Mandela. The Elders work to develop arbiter of whether to allow or remove
solutions for seemingly insurmount- content that has been posted on those
able social problems, such as climate platforms, including account suspen-
change, HIV/AIDS, and poverty. sions and bans.
Governance Governance
Membership in The Elders is obtained The initial board members were
through invitation from current mem- chosen by Facebook in collaboration
bers, with sitting members deciding with consulting firms and executive
when to appoint new members, and search firms. Facebook interviewed
who those new members will be. nominees and selected four co-chairs
for the board who then helped choose
the remaining sixteen board members.
Although anyone can be nominated
to serve as a board member, Facebook
and the board approve new board
members.
Learn more Learn More
TheElders.org/who-we-are OversightBoard.com
Values
•
•
•
Membership
Structure
Process
Create your own at
CommunityRule.info/create
Values
•
•
•
Membership
Structure
Process
Create your own at
CommunityRule.info/create