During every annual Baha’i National Convention, delegates from around the United States gather to celebrate, reflect, and make decisions about how best to advance and serve the nearly 170,000 Baha’is in the United States. At the convention, they also meet to cast their ballots and elect the Baha’i community’s national governing body – the nine-member National Spiritual Assembly.These 171 democratically elected delegates come from every background imaginable. They range widely in age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status and include women and men.

At National Convention, they meet for many hours a day; discussing best practices for achieving specific community goals, and putting forth recommendations and suggestions for the consideration of the incoming National Assembly.

In this way, these meetings are similar to a session of Congress. But these conventions only last for one long weekend, and consensus is found with no filibusters, no blocking or partisanship, nor any long, detailed bills needing a specific number of signers to enact.

As simple and straightforward as consultation may sound, it is an art form that requires great courage and commitment to its principles in order to work. At the National Convention each year, a range of individuals coming from all over the country undertakes this creative process together. Hear more about consultation in action and theory by clicking on the delegate photos below.

So how does this wide spectrum of people and their concerns reach important decisions in such a short amount of time? The Baha’i principle of consultation makes it all possible.

Consultation is a non-adversarial method of decision-making whose principles were laid out by the founder of the Baha’i Faith, Baha’u’llah. The goal of consultation is to investigate truth and build consensus. The way in which this is able to happen is through following these five simple, yet powerful, instructions:

• Ascertain the facts. The widest possible range of sources and variety of perspectives should be included in information gathering.
• Identify fundamental spiritual principles that may apply to the problem or issue. For Baha’is, these underlying principles may include such concepts as the equality of men and women, the harmony of science and religion, and the elimination of all forms of prejudice.
• Be as candid and frank as possible during discussion of the topic at hand, while maintaining a courteous interest in the views and ideas of others. Anything that could sabotage this principle – such as personal attacks, blanket ultimatums or prejudicial statements – should be avoided.
• Be detached. The moment an idea is put forth – it belongs to the group. This profound principle encourages ideas that are born from a sincere desire to serve, as opposed to ideas that come from a desire for recognition or to build constituency.
• Make a decision. Unanimity in a decision is desired, but a majority vote can be taken to bring about conclusion. It’s crucial that once a decision has been made, the entire group acts on it with unity, regardless of who or how many supported the measure.

Consultation is a practice that is used not only at National Convention, but also in all aspects of Baha’i life. Baha’i couples use it in marriages; schools and businesses use it in day-to-day decision making. (See more on Baha’i marriage consultation and the use of consultation in business.)

What’s unique about consultation at the National Convention is the national scope of the issues discussed, which draw from learnings at the grassroots from Baha’i communities across the country. It is the largest formal consultative gathering in the country.

You may wonder what happens if the decisions made during consultation prove to not work out according to plan. Baha’is believe that it’s better to agree and be wrong than to disagree and be right. The unity in coming to agreement and acting with the same goals in mind is more powerful, important and beneficial to community functioning than is the correctness of any decision. Baha’is also believe that if a decision is indeed a wrong one, it will become evident in its implementation. And once evident, the issue may be consulted on again and a decision will emerge based on additional information gained from the experience.

Having any group of people commit to a decision made via consulting ensures that if a project or decision fails, the problem is with the idea itself – and not with the lack of support from the group, or sabotaging actions by opponents. And also because of this unity, individuals suffer no blame for putting forth ideas that may not end as hoped or expected.

These core principles of consultation are free and open to use for everyone – regardless of their religion, race, age or any other distinction. Have you ever tried using consultation in a group setting? Let us know what you thought or learned by adding your voice in the comments section below.