Chapter 9c
General Discussion Forums


The General Discussion Forums, (or other general forums), established within the Local Citizens Groups, will provide Governing Members and Supporting Members alike the opportunity to advance ideas and advocate for their points of view on wide ranging subject matters. (Groups might also choose to maintain ‘announcement only’ forums, or other forums with a more specialized purpose, or they might choose to combine these functions into just one general forum). Participation in General Discussion Forums by Supporting Members should be encouraged, to augment and facilitate their acquaintance with Governing Members, and to encourage their deeper involvement and general participation, (hoping that some of them might choose to become Governing Members themselves).

Active discussion forums can, over time, allow the growth of a very real sense of ‘community’ among those who participate. People who have never laid eyes on each other can form bonds of friendship, mutual respect, or, (unfortunately), enmity, that are very real, and can be very strong, as anyone who has participated in list-serve discussion forums to any extent knows very well.

Active and spirited discussion forums present many problems that must be addressed in order to encourage success and participation. A well-developed and constantly reinforced democratic culture of behavior, which demands civility, and respect for all, from all participants, can largely minimize these problems. Culturally managed behavior can only go so far, however, and a means of enforcement of norms of behavior must also be provided. A system of democratic moderation, (discussed in detail in chapter 9f), can be employed to enforce, when necessary, the groups’ cultural standards of democratic behavior, to maintain civility and respectfulness in discussions.


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