How consensus decisions are made
Consensus-seeking tries to reconcile differences by locating and building on areas of agreement, sometimes called ‘integrative goals’. The process may be more time consuming than that of majority voting because the position of all parties in a consensus decision must be taken into account and a practical solution found that everyone would abide by. Those with opposing views may not like the decision, but they must agree that they can live with it.
So far, this discussion has been fairly abstract. Now we will look at how consensus works within the Commonwealth. This may help to make it more concrete.