Governance Library
Tools for Collective Decision-Making
A modular toolkit of governance systems — from voting methods and deliberation processes to resource allocation mechanisms and constitutional frameworks. Drawn from democratic innovation, commons research, indigenous practice, and digital-native experimentation.
These are building blocks. They can be combined, modified, and nested. The wisdom comes from knowing which tool fits which situation.
Voting & Election Systems
8 methodsSingle Transferable Vote (STV)
Voters rank candidates. A quota (Droop) determines the threshold to win a seat. Surplus votes and eliminated candidates' votes transfer according to preferences. Proportional representation emerges naturally.
→ Teaches coalition-building. Minority positions win representation.
Approval Voting
Vote for as many candidates as you approve of. Most approvals wins.
→ Dead simple. No spoiler effect. Good for rapid field-narrowing.
Quadratic Voting
Each player gets a pool of voice credits. Spreading votes across issues or concentrating them — each additional vote on the same issue costs quadratically more. Reveals intensity of preference.
→ Forces trade-offs between breadth and depth of conviction.
Ranked-Choice / Instant Runoff
Rank candidates. Lowest eliminated, votes transfer. Repeat until majority.
→ Simpler than STV for single-leader elections.
Score / Range Voting
Rate each option 0–5 (or 0–10). Highest average score wins.
→ Good for evaluating qualitative things — art proposals, mission priorities, trustworthiness.
Liquid Democracy / Delegative Voting
Vote directly on any issue, or delegate your vote to someone you trust — who can further delegate. Delegation is revocable at any time.
→ Models real trust networks. Creates emergent leaders without formal elections.
Sortition (Random Selection)
Representatives are chosen by lottery from the eligible population.
→ Radically egalitarian. Removes campaigning entirely.
Conviction Voting
You stake tokens on proposals over time. The longer you stake, the more "conviction" accumulates. Proposals pass when conviction crosses a threshold.
→ Rewards sustained commitment over hype.
Deliberation & Consensus
7 methodsConsent-Based Decision Making (Sociocracy)
A proposal passes unless someone has a "paramount objection" — not "I prefer something else" but "this will cause harm." Objections are integrated into improved proposals.
→ Fast and inclusive. Teaches the difference between preference and objection.
Consensus Process (Formal)
Discussion → proposal → check for concerns → address concerns → check for blocks → consensus or stand-aside. Hand signals (thumbs up/sideways/down, or twinkle fingers).
→ The hand signals alone are powerful. People physically embody agreement.
Fist-to-Five
Everyone holds up 0–5 fingers. 5 = fully support, 3 = can live with it, 1 = serious concerns, 0 (fist) = block.
→ Instant, visual, no tech needed. Use before and after deliberation to show opinion shift.
Fishbowl Discussion
A small circle (4–6 chairs) discusses. Outer ring listens. One chair is always empty — anyone from the outer ring can sit in it to join, but then someone else must leave.
→ Beautiful spatial mechanic. Self-regulating. Prevents domination by loud voices.
Talking Circle / Council
A talking piece passes around the circle. Only the holder speaks. No cross-talk, no rebuttals — only witnessing.
→ Indigenous governance wisdom. Slows everything down in the best way.
Deliberative Polling
Poll → provide balanced briefing materials → facilitated small-group discussion → poll again. Measure opinion shift.
→ Shows how minds change with better information. The before/after data is powerful.
Open Space Technology
No preset agenda. Participants propose sessions, post them on a wall, self-organize into groups. "Law of Two Feet" — if you're not learning or contributing, move on.
→ Already native to festival and unconference culture. Players set the day's agenda each morning.
Resource Allocation & Economics
5 methodsParticipatory Budgeting
Community members propose projects, develop budgets, then vote on which get funded. Usually with a fixed pot.
→ Core Assemblies mechanic. A planetary council allocates resources across proposals.
Commons Management (Ostrom's Principles)
Elinor Ostrom's 8 principles: clear boundaries, proportional costs/benefits, collective-choice arrangements, monitoring, graduated sanctions, conflict resolution, local autonomy, nested governance.
→ Players learn the principles by applying them to shared commons: water, energy, land.
Gift Economy Circles
Participants offer skills, objects, or time without expectation of direct return. Surplus circulates.
→ Natural Garden faction practice. Contrast with market-based allocation.
Prediction Markets
Players buy/sell shares in outcomes ("Will the dam hold?"). Prices reflect collective probability estimates.
→ Gamifies information aggregation. Rewards paying attention to what's actually happening.
Futarchy
"Vote on values, bet on beliefs." The community votes on goals, then prediction markets determine which policies best achieve those goals.
→ Advanced Spaceship Earth mechanic. Deeply weird and fascinating.
Small-Group & Tribal
5 methodsRoles Rotation / Circle Governance
Roles (facilitator, note-taker, timekeeper, vibes-checker) rotate each meeting. No permanent leaders.
→ Teaches that leadership is a function, not an identity.
Do-ocracy
If you want something done, do it. If you do it, you're in charge of it. No permission needed.
→ Already Burning Man DNA. Interesting to put in explicit tension with other systems.
Advice Process
Anyone can make any decision, but must first seek advice from (a) people affected and (b) people with expertise. Not consensus — the decider still decides.
→ Fast, empowering, but demands accountability.
Council of Elders / Wisdom Council
A small rotating group serves as advisors and mediators. Not executive power — advisory and moral authority only.
→ A counterbalance to populist voting dynamics.
Peacemaking Circle (Restorative Justice)
Harmed party, responsible party, and community members sit in circle with a facilitator. Focus on understanding harm, taking responsibility, and agreeing on repair — not punishment.
→ Essential for when conflict gets real. Transforms disputes into story.
Digital-Native & Experimental
4 methodsHolographic Consensus
Proposals can be made by anyone. Predictors stake tokens on whether the group would approve. Only contested proposals go to full vote.
→ Efficient for high-volume decisions. The prediction layer filters noise.
Retroactive Public Goods Funding
Instead of funding proposals upfront, evaluate what was actually valuable after a period and reward it retroactively.
→ Flips incentives. People focus on doing good work rather than writing good proposals.
Polis (Computational Democracy)
Participants submit short statements and vote agree/disagree on others' statements. Machine learning clusters opinion groups and surfaces statements with cross-group consensus.
→ Used by Audrey Tang for vTaiwan. Surfaces surprising agreements between factions.
Coordi-nation (Signal-based coordination)
Players signal intentions on a shared board or map. Self-organisation happens through visible information.
→ Low-overhead. Makes collective intelligence visible.
Meta-Systems & Constitutional
4 methodsConstitutional Convention
Delegates draft a foundational charter. Ratification by the broader body.
→ Could be the climactic event — building a planetary constitution using whichever systems participants have learned.
Subsidiarity Principle
Decisions should be made at the most local level capable of handling them. Only escalate upward when necessary.
→ Architectural principle for the whole governance stack: personal → team → faction → council → planetary assembly.
Two-House / Bicameral System
One chamber represents people proportionally, another represents groups (factions, regions) equally. Both must agree.
→ Ensures small groups aren't steamrolled.
Rotating Facilitation with Mandate
A facilitator is empowered for a fixed short term with a specific mandate. Must report back. Cannot self-extend.
→ Safe way to experiment with concentrated power. The mandate expires — what happened?