continuous_voting.md 2.3 KB
layout: module title: Continuous voting permalink: /modules/continuous_voting/ summary: Voting can occur anytime, not just on a fixed schedule, and decisions can change if participants alter their votes.
type: decision
Continuous voting
Continuous voting is a system in which the vote occurs on a continuous or frequent basis, rather than during discrete election periods.
Input: Ballot, randomized or universal electorate, easy mechanism for vote changing
Output: Frequent or real-time results
Background
Continuous voting mechanisms have been proposed in a variety of forms and contexts, though largely only since the advent of Internet technology that would streamline vote-changing and counting. Delegation systems like "liquid democracy" generally use continuous voting.
Economics blogger Steve Randy Waldman proposed in 2018 a model by which random subsets of the electorate would be polled on their representatives at frequent intervals. The same year, BlockScience CEO Michael Zargham proposed a model called "conviction voting," in which votes grow stronger the longer the remain with a particular choice, and greater stake in the system increases vote strength, among other properties. It has been adopted as part of the blockchain-based Commons Stack project.
Feedback loops
Sensitivities
- Provides feedback closer to real-time
- Reduces vulnerability to timed attacks on democratic deliberation
Oversights
- No fixed terms of elected cohorts, reducing ability to plan for a session in office
- Can instill greater insecurity among elected representatives
Implementations
Communities
- Commons Stack (in development)
- Various pirate parties using liquid democracy
Tools
- Democracy Earth implements liquid democracy
Further resources
- Delegation
- Kay. May 29, 2019. "Conviction Voting: From ad-hoc voting to continuous voting." Giveth blog.