About

About the Site

A Deeper Democracy is an examination of democracy, the values of sociocracy, and the principles and methods of dynamic governance. I believe that a union of these will lead us to a deeper democracy, one in which freedom and equality are a reality in all aspects of  our lives — at home, at work, in all our social interactions.

I started the site in 2009 and moved it in January of 2011 to the Socionet.us site in hopes that it will contribute to creating a central focus for discussions about sociocratic values and the principles and methods of dynamic governance and the sociocratic circle-organization method.

About the Author

I’m a master failure at organizations — always joining, always hoping, usually frustrating all the other members. Somewhere there has to be a way to organize ourselves sensibly and quickly. A method we learn from birth that is universally applicable. Or, at least, it’s principles would be. So I keep tinkering and looking for something better.

I think in the principles and methods that Gerard Endenburg has developed to address the ideals that have been attached to proposals for sociocracies since the mid-nineteenth century, we have found a governance method that is more than elected officials and legally authorized government agencies or Father-Knows-Best. It is first a way of thinking and living, an attitude. A set of values. Then it is a method for living and working together that is based principles derived from studying natural systems. How things work when we humans are not wrapping our hopes and fears around them.

It is rooted in change and how we change — in an orderly fashion.

That’s the heart of what has come out of attending a lot of churches, schools, and universities; teaching for 25 years in one; survived the women’s movement and several others in reasonably good shape; and joined a lot of organizations not moving anywhere.

I met John Buck in 2002 and quickly joined forces with him to write We the People: Consenting to a Deeper Democracy, published in 2007. It is a guide to sociocratic principles and methods, a handbook on applying the principles of dynamic governance in our workplaces, governments, and organizations. I learn through writing and that book represents five years of study with John and many reflections on my own experiences in organizations. John continues to be my best sounding board and defender as I continue to be a thorn in the side of most organizations with my constant questioning and objections. (To order the book, click here.)

I currently live in Washington DC in a cohousing community that lives by the same values as sociocracy but is not — yet — using dynamic governance. We still lump along with traditional consensus decision-making, but as we grow larger and larger — now 60 adults and 22 children — the cracks are showing.

Sharon Villines, Washington DC, 2 February 2011