Consensus governance across diverse Tribes held together by a shared spiritual foundation

Evidence

The national council’s decision making is by consensus, a style drawn from Native American traditions. Such a decision-making style—in which everyone must agree on a particular course of action before it is undertaken—is not always easy, admit IEN leaders. “The thing that keeps us working at it, at getting us through the complications, is the commitment to the common spiritual foundation,” explains Warledo. “Not any one person or one Tribe’s spiritual ways, but a common foundation that is reflected in our guiding documents.” — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 627

Categorization

• XREF: Consensus-versus-majority decision-making is a live thread for the legal systems course. — connects to: A national Indigenous environmental network began at one Navajo kitchen table — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 598; Religious unity across ethnic lines rests on rituals and language generating obligated interdependence; Secular institutions achieved large-scale cooperation by usurping religion’s community-building role (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Religious belief and social belonging form one integrated system. #corroborates (0.85) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 49
• Religious unity across ethnic lines rests on rituals and language generating obligated interdependence #expands (0.80)
• Shared ritual creates religious unity that overrides racial and ethnic divisions #corroborates (0.80) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 898
• Religious rituals maintain identity and build lasting community support networks #corroborates (0.78) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 892
• Sacred-language standardization builds cohesion across vast religious in-groups #expands (0.75) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 903
• Secular institutions achieved large-scale cooperation by usurping religion’s community-building role #qualifies (0.72)
• Group-level selection favors tribes whose members sacrifice for the common good #expands (0.72) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 453
• Secular institutions can replace religion’s community-building and cooperation functions #qualifies (0.72) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 47
• Religious belief withers when governments provide the cooperation religion once supplied. #qualifies (0.72)
• Religious solidarity arises from a cluster of synchrony, self-control, and Big-God mechanisms #expands (0.70) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 386
• Religious group solidarity organizes others into outgroups by identity #qualifies (0.70) — Deborah L. Hall and David C. Matz and Wendy Wood, Why Don’t We Practice What We Preach? A…, 77
• Scarce resources in the Middle East favored religious traditions that enforce group coordination #expands (0.70)