“Don’t Panic About Democracy in EA” by James Herbert, Maria Bækkelie

At EAG London 2024, Zach Robinson (CEA's new CEO) highlighted strengthening EA institutions as a top priority. One avenue is democratizing EA organisations. While there's been abstract discussion on democracy within EA, concrete examples are rare. EA Norway's governance model — and similar structures in EA Sweden, Denmark, and Finland — offers a practical illustration. In this post, we provide an overview of how things work at EA Norway. We don’t make strong arguments or claims about this being the best solution for everyone.

About EA Norway

Founded in 2017, EA Norway has grown to 300 paying members — alongside over 1,000 affiliated supporters. Its annual budget stands at around 3.8m Norwegian kroner (about €320,000), with 3.25 full-time-equivalent staff handling day-to-day tasks.

At EAG London 2024, the Norwegian delegation ranked third in per-capita terms. Alumni of EA Norway have gone on to work at organisations such as CEA, the [...]

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Outline:

(00:49) About EA Norway

(01:55) Democracy from the Ground Up

(02:27) Inside the General Assembly

(03:18) The Board and Beyond

(04:27) A Hands-On General Secretary

(04:58) Lessons for the Global Movement

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First published:
June 7th, 2025

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/6trPMB3zXkBfLEDhw/don-t-panic-about-democracy-in-ea

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.