Democracy Project

The Democracy Project is an experiment in Open Source Governance. It seeks to provide an answer for the question of what the US Constitution would look like if it were fully open to change and alteration by any member of our society.

Of course, a little complexity is needed to make the Democracy Project interesting. Therefore, two rules are proposed to guide the evolution of the project:


 * 1) You are asked to only to make changes if the /Open Source Constitution/ gives you the right to vote at the time of your visit. What if you don't have the right to vote? Use the observations page or discussion page to convice people to give you the right to vote.
 * 2) The copy of the US Constitution in /Where it Started/ should ideally be left unchanged so that people can see the original text and compare it to the changing Open Source Constitution. Commentary and historical content are suggested additions to the Where it Started chapter.

Table of Contents

 * 1) /Open Source Constitution/
 * 2) /Where it Started/
 * 3) /Observations on Open Source Governance/

The first chapter, /Open Source Constitution/, is a living constitution that will change over time as more people visit this site and make updates. Rather than representative democracy, the Democracy Project will explore what happens when anyone can edit and continuous evolution of a central governance document is allowed to take place. The Open Source consititution will often be in flux, however may remain stable if its community of contributors so chooses.

As a visitor to this learning resource, you are encouraged to alter the Constitution to support your ideals and beliefs. If others agree with you, your changes will last. If your opinion is not widely shared, your changes are likely to be edited and revised.

The second chapter, /Where it Started/, contains a copy of the original text of the United States Constitution as it was written when originally ratified. This chapter also explores the historical, socioeconomic context of the US Constitution and the events that influenced its creation.

The third chapter, /Observations on Open Source Governance/, documents the changes, trends, and happenings that occur in the Democracy Project. It explores the meaning of the project and the actions of its contributors.