Glossary Terms

Elizabeth Warren, The Social Contract

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Photo Elizabeth Warren There is nobody in this country who got rich on their own. Nobody. … You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory,… Read More . . . “Elizabeth Warren, The Social Contract”

Gerard Endenburg, What is sociocracy?

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Gerard Endenburg, 1980, In front of Centrum Literally, sociocracy means the sovereignty of the socius: I myself, the next person, the alter ego, the otherness. From a structural point of view this corresponds with the definition of sociocracy as a situation where the principle of consent predominates or is socially all–determining in the sense that it governs the making of decisions at all levels of society. The sociocratic circle organization is a cybernetic means of making this possible and then, as a… Read More . . . “Gerard Endenburg, What is sociocracy?”

Pranav Bhattarai: From Users and Choosers to Makers and Shapers

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Having a right to participate means being recognized by the state as having an entitlement to be informed and involved. Making that right calls for amplifying and channeling citizen voices on the one hand and strengthening the state accountability on the other. Reinventing peoples´ role in this way—”from users and choosers to makers and shapers”— has profound implications for how citizens come to be seen by the state. Pranav Bhattarai In “Revisiting Governance” in Repùblica, … Read More . . . “Pranav Bhattarai: From Users and Choosers to Makers and Shapers”

Ricardo Semler Democracy Is Work

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Democracy is a lot of work… It needs to be exercised with conviction and without subterfuge or exception. And it begins with the little things, like neckties, time clocks, parking spaces, and petroleum blue uniforms. Ricardo Semler in Maverick, 1993

Ricardo Semler on Transparency

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    No one can expect the spirit of involvement and partnership to flourish without an abundance of information available even to the most humble employee. I know all the arguments against a policy of full disclosure. … But the advantages of openness and truthfulness far outweigh the disadvantages. And a company that doesn’t share information when times are good loses the right to request solidarity and concessions when they aren’t. Ricardo Semler Quotation on… Read More . . . “Ricardo Semler on Transparency”