Just came back from a two day workshop on Deep Democracy (http://deep-democracy.net/). I recommend for anyone who has been in difficult situations of deliberating to have a look at it. The basic concept build on the fact that if 50% + 1 vote for a certain thing, it goes through. It is still decided by the majority, but leaves 50% -1 unhappy with the outcome.
To give you a taste of what Deep Democracy does as a social technology, it acknowledges the position of those who did not win the vote and explores how to avoid them becoming disengaged (or even working against the majority) by posing a simple question:
What do you need to come along?
It explores what is it the majority will need to do to not lose the minority. Depending on the topic of deliberation, the answer will vary - from "I am fine with it" to "I need to vote again, I do not believe we did not come out on top".
There is an elaborate theory on how to use this tool. Nevertheless, there are some tricks that can be used even out of context and they are still extremely helpful in helping organizations keep their coherence.
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