ABSTRACT
Councils guide Baha’i administration. Baha’i consultation is a principled process of enlightened decision-making. The process of Baha’i consultation is dynamically unique. The Baha’i principle and practice of consultation concentrates power in whatever group is responsible for decision-making. Autocratic, dictatorial determinations are utterly impossible to imagine in a Baha’i context. The Baha’i electoral process is as unique as it is democratic. Baha’i elections are distinctive for their total absence of nominations and campaigning. The Universal House of Justice is the world’s first truly global elected body. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States is the nine-member elected governing body of the US Baha’i community. Regional Baha’i Councils exist in several countries around the world today. Each Local Spiritual Assembly deliberates and decides on the affairs of the local Baha’i community within its given jurisdiction.
