SYMSYS 271 - Syllabus (Modified After Class Discussion

SYMSYS 271
Group Democracy
Collective Formation, Deliberation, and Decision Making

2016-2017 Winter Quarter, Stanford University

SYMSYS 271: 2-4 units, Ltr-CR/NC

Instructor: Todd Davies

Tuesdays, 7-9:30pm
Room 460-126 (Margaret Jacks Hall, first floor)

Public website: http://web.stanford.edu/class/symsys271/

Interactive website: Symsys 271 folder

Activists associated with the
Occupy Wall Street movement participate in a general
assembly during a gathering of the movement in Washington
Square park, Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012 in New York.. (AP
Photo/Mary Altaffer). From
http://blogs.pjstar.com/eye/2012/09/17/occupy-wall-street-celebrates-a-year-of-protests

This version: February 14, 2017

Course Description

This seminar will explore theoretical, empirical, and practical approaches to groups that come together around a common purpose or interest. Emphasis is on democratically structured, non-hierarchical and non-institutional decision making, e.g. by grassroots activists, student, or neighborhood organizations. Parliamentary, consensus, and informal procedures. How do groups form? How do they deliberate and make decisions? What are the principles underlying different models for group process, and how well do different procedures work in practice? How do culture and identity affect the working of a group? And how are social technologies used? Readings from different disciplines and perspectives.

This is a research seminar that will involve the entire class in an empirical study and analysis project involving group democracy.

Intended Population

The course requires some prior background in social psychology, decision making or group sociology. Apart from that, it is intended for any student interested in democratically constituted groups, especially as a participant in such groups.

This course fulfills the Advanced Small Seminar Requirement in the undergraduate core of the Symbolic Systems Program.

Learning Goals

The following are the main learning goals for students taking this course:

To understand and think critically about a range of factors affecting the quality of democratic deliberation and decision making in groups of people who share a common interest or purpose.
To become more acquainted with, and think critically about, methods for studying group deliberation and decision making.
To develop some practical understanding of how to study democratic processes in groups, by conducting original research.
To understand better the process of social scientific inquiry and research generally through both study and practical experience.
To enhance students' ability to write scientifically about group behavior.

Format

The course is being offered this year as a small discussion and research seminar, based partly on assigned readings in Weeks 2-8, and on a group research project starting in week 4. The group project will involve individual and collaborative drafting of a final paper intended for submission as a journal article.

Texts

There are two required books, for the course, which will be available at the Stanford Bookstore prior to the first day of class:

Kathleen M. Blee, Democracy in the Making: How Activist Groups Form, Oxford University Press, 2012, DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199842766.001.0001
Donatella della Porta and Dieter Rucht, Meeting Democracy: Power and Deliberation in Global Justice Movements, Cambridge University Press, 2013, DOI:10.1017/CBO9781139236034

An additional book is available as a recommended reference, although it is not required reading:

Sam Kaner, with Lenny Lind, Chatherine Toldi, Sarah Fisk, and Duane Berger, Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, Third Edition, Jossey-Bass, 2014

Other readings, both required and supplementary, will be made available in digital form.

Grading and Required Work

Students enrolled in SYMSYS 271 will be expected to do the following:

Attend and participate in class sessions
Prepare questions for and lead a portion of a class discussion
Participate in a collaborative group research project, at the level indicated below depending on the units for which the course is taken:

For the 2-unit students: Prepare and share either the Draft Introduction Section (Week 8), or the Draft Conclusions Section (Finals Week, March 21), and help complete Collaboratively Edited Full Draft by March 23
For the 3-unit students: Prepare and share the Proposed Study Procedure Outline (Week 7) and the Draft Methods Section (Week 9), and help complete Collaboratively Edited Full Draft by March 23
For the 4-unit students: Perform Initial Data Gathering & Analysis (Week 8), Non-Narrative Results & Analysis (Week 9), and Draft Results & Analysis Section (Week 10), and help complete Collaboratively Edited Full Draft by March 23

Grades will be assessed based on individual contributions to the class, as follows:

For 2 units, the grading breakdown is:

50% attendance and participation
50% Draft Introduction Section or Conclusion Section, plus Collaboratively Edited Final Draft

For 3 units, the grading breakdown is:

33% attendance and participation
17% Proposed Study Procedure Outline
50% Draft Methods Section, plus Collaboratively Edited Full Draft

For 4 units, the grading breakdown is:

25% attendance and participation
10% Initial Data Gathering & Analysis
25% Non-Narrative Results & Analysis
40% Draft Results & Analysis Section, plus Collaboratively Edited Full Draft

Schedule

CLASS SESSION	TOPIC	DELIVERABLES	REQUIRED READINGS	ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Week 1 Jan. 10	Introductions and Overview
Week 2 Jan. 17	Grassroots Models of Group Decision Making		Douglas N. Case, "Robert's Rules of Order: An Outline of Basic Parliamentary Procedure" (alternative pdf version) InterAct @ Ohio University, "Our Structure and Decision Making Process" Berit Lakey (1975), "Meeting Facilitation -- The No-Magic Method" (alternative pdf version) Gay Straight Alliances (GSA) & Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), "Guidelines for Respectful Discussion" Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance (AORTA) (2014), "Anti-Oppressive Facilitation: Making Meetings Awesome for Everyone"	Robert's Rules Online: RulesOnline.com Todd Davies (2016), "Consensus With Straw Polls: A Process For Meetings"
Week 3 Jan. 24	Syllabus Revision Proposal Historical and Psychological Studies	Alternative Syllabus Proposal (Instructor)	Jo Freeman (1970), "The Tyranny of Structurelessness" Irving Janis (1971), "Groupthink" David Graeber (2011), "Some Remarks on Consensus" Francesca Polletta (2005), “How Participatory Democracy Became White: Culture and Organizational Choice” Francesca Polletta and Katt Hoban (2016), “Why Consensus? Prefiguration in Three Activist Eras”	Andrew Cornell (2009), "Anarchism and the Movement for a New Society: Direct Action and Prefigurative Community in the 1970s and 80s" Charles (2010), "Learning from the Movement for a New Society: An Interview With George Lakey"
Week 4 Jan. 31	Power and Participation I Initial study proposal and human subjects protocol	Initial Study Proposal and Human Subject Protocol (Instructor)	Meeting Democracy, Preface and Chapters 1-4
Week 5 Feb. 7	Power and Participation II Discussion about basic study design	Refined Study Proposal (Instructor)	Meeting Democracy, Chapters 5-7
Week 6 Feb. 14	Power and Participation III Discussion about methods and data		Meeting Democracy, Chapters 8, 9, & Appendices
Week 7 Feb. 21	Activist Group Formation I Presentation and review of study procedure Pre-draft discussion of Introduction	Proposed Study Procedure Outline (3 units)	Democracy in the Making, Chapters 1-3
Week 8 Feb. 28	Activist Group Formation II Presentation and discussion of Intro section Update on data and analysis	Draft Introduction Section (2 units) Initial Data Gathering & Analysis (4 units)	Democracy in the Making, Chapters 4-6 & Appendix
Week 9 Mar. 7	Presentation of study results Presentation and discussion of Methods section	Non-Narrative Results & Analysis Document (4 units) Draft Methods Section (3 units)
Week 10 Mar. 14	Presentation and discussion of Results & Analysis section Pre-draft discussion of Conclusions	Draft Results & Analysis Section (4 units)
Finals Week *Mar. 21* 10 pm	Deadline for Draft Conclusions section	Draft Conclusions Section (2 units)
Finals Week *Mar. 23* 10 pm	Deadline for final edits	Collaboratively Edited Full Draft (everyone)

SYMSYS 271 Group Democracy Collective Formation, Deliberation, and Decision Making