Governance beyond government

2 min readSep 2, 2022

The London Policy & Strategy Network is delighted to welcome Democratic Society.

Since 2020 Democratic Society has been part of Beyond The Rules, a cross-sector project working outside local government to see how third sector community and volunteer organisations are “doing” governance and sharing power more equally in their work.

Governance is about the rules which dictate how we organise, decide to use resources, and work together in highly variable societies. Every third sector organisation, from unions to universities to place-based community organisations, is consciously or unconsciously tangling with governance issues. And though in the third sector people come together to “do good”, their governance is often weakened by exclusionary hierarchical structures, opaque decision making, and power struggles which mirror the very systems these groups seek to disrupt. Together, these things weaken communities and potential for wider system cooperation and change.

So what does better governance look like — beyond government — and what does it enable? We’ll share practical examples from our work across Europe. Then we’ll turn the microphone to the group: what examples are you seeing in your local associations, unions, and volunteer and community sector organisations?

This is part of a series of Beyond The Rules learning events Demsoc are co-hosting in 2022.

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Governance beyond government

Written by noelito