Category: Civil Society

Sprouting self-organized collaborative governance

When we think of governance we usually think of formal institutions: The Government. But governANCE is simply the function of managing our collective affairs. GovernMENT is just one way of doing that.

People without special authority but with real interest in their community and larger social issues are working together to do what’s needed – with and without government – often right in their home communities. That this is an emerging form of governance – a new (albeit ancient) way of handling our collective affairs – is often missed by modern observers. But it is an important trend, and paints a different and more hopeful picture compared to the national developments that discourage so many of us. I see the fact that leading mainstream columnist Thomas Friedman is noticing and highlighting this as, itself, a significant development. There’s definitely something interesting going on here….