How do governing entities judge the will of the governed? How do they gain their consent?
A culture of participation involves a community which is to some large extent, self-governing. In principle, everyone participates in the decision-making process, perhaps just by voicing their opinion. In principle, decisions have buy-in from everyone involved, even if they are merely tolerated. In such environments, there’s a continuous process of consensus-building, involving a large degree of mutual trust. It involves the “consent of the governed.” Consensus-building, when done well, involves most everyone and relies on a lot of buy-in. However, consensus-building skills are rare, and the process is frequently a lengthy one. It involves many one to one or one to a few conversations. As a result, decisions can take intolerably long, or might not be made at all. Group decisions can be more accurate than individual decisions, ala “wisdom of crowds”, but crowds are also subject to panic, degenerating into mobs. In contrast, central authority involving a “command and control” system can
