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
Authors Media Enterprise Design Lab
License CC-BY-SA-4.0