Deliberative Assemblies Douglas Wilhelm Harder Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering...

Deliberative Assemblies

Douglas Wilhelm Harder

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of Waterloo

Copyright © 2008 by Douglas Wilhelm Harder. All rights reserved.

ECE 355 Software Engineering


Outline

• In this topic, we will cover– The background of organizational behaviour– Hierarchical organizations– Origins of deliberative assemblies– Deliberative assemblies today


Background

• Humans are social animals

• Organizations and groups are collections of people who have common goals

• Humans, however, are also selfish

• For a group or organization to be viable, there must be some form of structure


Background

• Two models of organizations have evolved in Western society– Hierarchical– Deliberative

• Other models exist, however these are the most common


Hierarchical Organizations

• An organization is hierarchical if– There is a single principal entity– All other entities are subordinate to exactly

one other entity within the organization– All entities are ultimately subordinate to the

principal entity



• Numerous organizations within today’s society are hierarchical– Executive government– Armed forces– Corporations– Organized religions

• Hierarchy means rank by holy beings

– Universities



• Historically, civil society was also hierarchically structured– Feudalism– Manorialism

• The principal entity in these organizations was usually a king– Perhaps subordinate to an emperor



• Feudal positions were hereditary– The king could not remove barons at will– The obligations of barons were defined– The barons would protect their interests– No king could achieve his aims without his

barons


Origins of Deliberative Assemblies

• On June 15th, 1215, the Magna Carta established a Great Council in England– Restricted to the most powerful barons– Responsible for taxation– Not necessarily subordinate to the monarch– Those not present still bound to any decisions– Soon called the Parliamentum

• From French parler: to speak



• Simon V de Montfort’s parliament of 1265– Included knights and burgesses

• Under Edward I, this parliament included – Two knights from each county– Two burgesses from each borough– Two citizens from each city

• The commoners separated from the lords in 1341



• The members of this Parliamentum discussed issues, or deliberated:

“to think about or discuss issues and decisions carefully”

• A serious threat, however, was for this council to revert into a hierarchical structure



• To prevent such a reversion– Rules– Usages– Ethics– Customs

were slowly introduced

• Collectively, these are today referred to as parliamentary procedure


Properties

• Some properties of parliaments:– Regular/voting members have equal votes– Regular meetings– The decisions of these meetings binds the

entire organization– Decisions are made by votes– Rule of the majority– Rights for the minority– It elected a head or Speaker


Deliberative Assemblies Today

• The organizational model for parliament was soon copied in Great Britain by numerous civilian organizations– Cooperatives– Ordinary societies– Committees

• An organization using parliamentary procedure is a deliberative assembly



• Corporations are initially hierarchical– The owner is the principal entity

• The introduction of public corporations and shares was modeled on deliberative assemblies– Each share has an equal vote



• Most organizations mix both hierarchical organizations and deliberative assemblies

• We will look at:– Government– Judiciary– Universities– Corporations



• The government includes:– The legislative (with the Speaker) is

deliberative– The state is hierarchical

• Her Majesty and her Governor General

– The executive is hierarchical• The Prime Minister and various ministries



• The judiciary contains– A system of courts which is hierarchical– Juries and the Supreme Court of Canada are

deliberative



• Universities are an interesting mix– The organizations of the President, the Provost,

Deans, Associate Deans, Chairs, and Associate Chairs is hierarchical

– Individual departments and committees are deliberative

• Deans and Chairs are usually elected• Associate Deans and Associate Chairs are appointed• Examinations and Promotions Committee• Engineering Faculty Operational Committee



• Publically-trade corporations are divided between ownership and operations– The shareholders, the Board, and the Chair of

the Board are deliberative– The President, C.E.O., etc. are hierarchical



• A deliberative assembly is an appropriate structure when there is shared responsibility

• A hierarchical structure is appropriate when there is delegated responsibility



• Comparing the properties of each:– Slow versus quick response– Shared versus individual responsibility– Long-term versus short-term goals


Control of Assemblies Today

• The application of deliberative assemblies to ordinary societies today has many advantages:– It makes people aware of the functioning of our

parliament– It allows people to experience the democratic

system– It teaches the principles of democracy in a

practical manner– It provides years of experience



• There are a number of codifications of parliamentary procedure which may be used by ordinary societies

• The most popular in North America is Robert’s Rules of Order



• The most popular for ordinary societies North America is Robert’s Rules of Order

• Others include– Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure– Standing Rules of the US Senate– Jefferson’s Manual– Erskine May (UK)– Code Morin (Quebec)


Summary

• In this topic, we will cover– The background of organizational behaviour– Hierarchical organizations– Origins of deliberative assemblies– Deliberative assemblies today– Control of assemblies

Deliberative Assemblies Douglas Wilhelm Harder Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering...

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