Editing Consensus decision-making (section)

===Criticism of majority voting processes===
Some proponents of consensus decision-making view procedures that use [[majority rule]] as undesirable for several reasons. Majority [[voting]] is regarded as [[Competition|competitive]], rather than [[cooperation|cooperative]], framing decision-making in a win/lose dichotomy that ignores the possibility of [[compromise]] or other mutually beneficial solutions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/all-news-english/display-single-english-news/browse/4/article/1634/consensus-a-colourful-fa-1.html |title=Consensus: a colourful farewell to majority rule |access-date=17 January 2007 |author=Friedrich Degenhardt |year=2006 |publisher=World Council of Churches |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061206132304/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/all-news-english/display-single-english-news/browse/4/article/1634/consensus-a-colourful-fa-1.html |archive-date=6 December 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Carlos Santiago Nino, on the other hand, has argued that majority rule leads to better deliberation practice than the alternatives, because it requires each member of the group to make arguments that appeal to at least half the participants.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McGann|first=Anthony|url=http://www.press.umich.edu/189565|title=The Logic of Democracy: Reconciling Equality, Deliberation, and Minority Protection|date=2006|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-472-09949-8|location=Ann Arbor, MI|language=en|doi=10.3998/mpub.189565}}</ref>

Some advocates of consensus would assert that a majority decision reduces the commitment of each individual decision-maker to the decision. Members of a minority position may feel less commitment to a majority decision, and even majority voters who may have taken their positions along party or bloc lines may have a sense of reduced responsibility for the ultimate decision. The result of this reduced commitment, according to many consensus proponents, is potentially less willingness to defend or act upon the decision.

Majority voting cannot measure consensus. Indeed,&mdash;so many 'for' and so many 'against'&mdash;it measures the very opposite, the degree of dissent. The [[Modified Borda Count]] has been put forward as a voting method which better approximates consensus.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rhizome |date=2011-06-02 |title=Near-consensus alternatives: Crowd Wise |url=https://rhizomenetwork.wordpress.com/2011/06/02/near-consensus-alternatives-crowd-wise/ |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=Welcome to the archived Rhizome website for useful resources |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" />