The Economist has a fascinating piece on a new form of governing called “Deliberative Democracy,” and it might just serve as a model for how B2B companies can deeply engage stakeholders online.  Wikpedia defines it as “a system of political decision-making that relies on popular consultation to make policy.”

The Economist says it works by “canvassing views from a large sample of people. Then a smaller subset (normally around 300-strong) receives briefing materials from the opposing advocacy groups. Moderators lead small group discussions which then draw up questions for experts and policymakers. If the samples are statistically representative, that should, so goes the theory, give a credible picture of what the entire population would think, were it as well-informed...The internet means that the discussion no longer needs to be face-to-face, though it involves fixes to ensure a statistically fair proportion of the unwebbed population is included. But being online can cut costs by as much as 90%.“

Crowdsourcing can be a bit chaotic, so this model could be quite appealing for business professionals that haven’t done it before.  It captures the egalitarian feel needed in an online community and it allows for just the kind of engagement over complex content that B2B companies need and their stakeholders enjoy.  For tasks like R&D, rethinking value propositions or addressing an industry-wide need, Deliberative Democracy would seem to result in a more thoughtful result.

Would your company find this model appealing?