Alternative¶

An alternative is an alternative in consent or consensus. Both methods deal with exactly one proposal – so anyone who wants something different cannot simply put it forward alongside it.

The path to this usually involves a objection: if it can be resolved by a new version of the proposal, the decision remains as it is. If it cannot be resolved because the issue would have to be about something else, the alternative is the solution.

What happens next¶

An alternative halts the current decision. It is deemed to have been aborted, and Rhizome initiates a resistance poll] in its place, in which the original proposal and the alternative are pitted against one another.

This resistance poll is, for the time being, a draft. Someone has to start it – it doesn’t start automatically, and you can still have a chat until then.

Once the result has been finalised, Rhizome presents the winner once again as a consensus, again in the form of a draft. So, in the end, you are deciding on the same proposal in the same way as at the beginning – only this time, it is the one that has prevailed.

The issue remains unresolved throughout these three steps. None of them considers it to have been resolved.