The rules are the experiment.
Eight studies, eight experiments. Change a rule and explore a possibility. These are teaching models, not predictions.
Borrow expertise. Keep your voice.
Explore how revocation changes delegated power.
Coordinate what crosses a boundary.
Three places have different needs. The river also needs 20 units. Their combined reference requirement is 100 units.
The last rule uses local need estimates and a shared ecological limit. It illustrates a useful arrangement, not proof that one institutional form always performs better.
One account, visible consequences
| Claim | Need | Allocated | Unmet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper settlement | 20 | 20 | 0 |
| Town centre | 35 | 35 | 0 |
| Lower settlement | 25 | 25 | 0 |
| River reserve | 20 | 20 | 0 |
0 units remain unallocated. All allocations and unallocated water together equal 100.
Every reference need fits within the shared budget.
Local knowledge and a common limit work together here: each place keeps a role without passing an invisible cost downstream.
At this supply, enough water exists to meet the stated needs. Compare which arrangement actually does so.
Inspect the assumptions and arithmetic
Resident reference needs are 20, 35 and 25 units. Equal envelopes divide max(supply − 20, 0) into thirds, without reallocating excess. Separate withdrawals proceed upstream to downstream; each place requests 120% of its reference need as a buffer. The river receives what remains, up to 20 units.
The coordinated rule reserves up to 20 units, then shares the remainder in proportion to resident needs, capped at each need. Unused water stays unallocated. The example excludes infrastructure losses, negotiation costs and uncertainty. A central institution with the same information could use the same formula; the question is who supplies, contests and acts on that information.
Take this arrangement further.
Carry your settings into a private proposal. Add who can challenge the rule and what would justify changing it.
Return to the connected studyPreparing an amendment replaces your existing private draft.
A common share and a recognised contribution.
Five residents share income after operating costs. Reserve some equally; distribute the rest through a chosen assessment of work.
Everyone retains one vote. The invented scores are teaching inputs, not the Backfeed or SourceCred algorithms and not objective measurements of human worth.
| Resident / Work | Dividend | Reward | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| AmiraRepairs the pump | 120 | 140 | 260 |
| LeonReports incidents | 120 | 60 | 180 |
| NoorChecks outcomes | 120 | 80 | 200 |
| EvaCarries water and provides care | 120 | 120 | 240 |
| SamNo recorded contribution | 120 | 0 | 120 |
Everyone reaches the example’s essentials threshold.
Eva’s care becomes visible in the reward account. Recognising the work that sustains participation can widen the meaning of contribution.
The common share provides room for people whose contribution is not recorded. Lower the surplus to see why an enduring guarantee needs more than a percentage rule.
Inspect the assumptions and arithmetic
Scores in resident order: activity 5/40/20/0/0; outcomes 45/20/25/10/0; care 35/15/20/30/0. Dividend = surplus × equal-share percentage ÷ 100 ÷ 5. Reward = remaining pool × individual score ÷ total score. Unrounded payments sum to the realised surplus; displayed rounding can differ slightly.
The 120-unit essentials threshold is arbitrary. Revenue can fall, so a dividend is not itself a guaranteed basic income. The example excludes reserves, taxation, losses, household differences and the cost of evaluation. Asset control and membership need their own rules.
Take this arrangement further.
Carry your settings into a private proposal. Add who can challenge the rule and what would justify changing it.
Return to the connected studyPreparing an amendment replaces your existing private draft.
Let trust remain a choice.
A knowledgeable representative receives delegated votes. Some residents later want to decide for themselves.
25 points return to the people who delegated them.
Delegation can make expertise available without requiring permanent surrender of voice. Residents can continue trusting the representative on some matters and take back others.
Authority is spread across more holders in this setting. A useful next step is making the choices understandable enough for people to use them.
Inspect the assumptions and arithmetic
Revocable delegation returns min(requested withdrawal, initial delegated power). Locked delegation returns zero. All returned authority goes to its original holders. The model uses one representative and does not simulate chains, expertise, collusion or subsequent ballots.
Concentration is one observable feature, not a score of decision quality. Revocation can redistribute power without solving differences in time, knowledge or organisational capacity.
Take this arrangement further.
Carry your settings into a private proposal. Add who can challenge the rule and what would justify changing it.
Return to the connected studyPreparing an amendment replaces your existing private draft.
Choose what gives a person a voice.
90 residents favour repairing a public water point; 10 investors oppose it. Investors hold 70% of the voting capital.
All investors participate. Preferences are fixed to isolate the voting rule. A strict majority passes; a tie does not. There is no quorum in this example.
The repair proposal passes under this rule.
Individual membership gives residents a voice independent of how much infrastructure they can afford to own. That can open public decisions to a much broader community.
A usable membership process, time to participate and clear proposal rights help turn a formal vote into an opportunity people can use.
Inspect the assumptions and arithmetic
Capital voting counts 30 × resident turnout/100 supporting units and 70 opposing units. Individual voting counts 90 × turnout/100 supporting residents and 10 opposing investors. Support percentage = supporting weight ÷ total participating weight.
Investor opposition is an invented scenario, not a claim about investors generally. The example excludes identity fraud, persuasion, abstention among investors, strategic trading and minority safeguards. A majority result does not automatically fund or implement a repair.
Take this arrangement further.
Carry your settings into a private proposal. Add who can challenge the rule and what would justify changing it.
Return to the connected studyPreparing an amendment replaces your existing private draft.
Build a room more people can enter.
A community has different work and caring commitments. Change recruitment and support, then give the panel a decision it can make.
Who reaches the discussion?
| Group | Community | Attending | Panel share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed work hours | 36% | 7 | 35% |
| Caring commitments | 30% | 6 | 30% |
| More flexible time | 34% | 7 | 35% |
20 people attend. Largest difference from the community’s group shares: 1 percentage points.
The panel can authorise the proposed repair.
Practical support lets more people contribute their experience. Selection and support can work together to reduce the advantage of having more spare time.
Its authority has a clear boundary: a 60-unit repair within an agreed budget. The next task is assigning someone to carry it out.
Inspect the assumptions and arithmetic
Population shares are 36%, 30% and 34%. Open attendance produces invented counts of 3/2/15 without support and 6/5/15 with support. Selection invites a 7/6/7 panel; attendance is 4/2/7 without support and 7/6/7 with support. These scenarios illustrate possible barriers, not measured effects or a simulation of random selection.
Assume every panel recommends the same 60-unit repair, so the authority comparison isolates its remit. A panel with budget authority can authorise it only when the available budget reaches 60. An advisory panel can influence the decision through a response obligation, but cannot authorise it itself. Composition does not measure discussion quality or guarantee consensus.
Take this arrangement further.
Carry your settings into a private proposal. Add who can challenge the rule and what would justify changing it.
Return to the connected studyPreparing an amendment replaces your existing private draft.
Trace an approved repair into an outcome.
The vote has passed. The repair costs 100 units: 40 to mobilise work and 60 on completion. Try changing what stands between approval and payment.
From authorisation to delivery
- ✓Decision
The repair is approved.
- ✓Funding
The 100-unit cost can be funded.
- ✓Responsibility
An operator is named.
- ✓Service
The selected scenario restores the pump.
- ✓Verification
Independent completion is recorded.
0 units remain uncommitted.
The decision reaches a verified working service.
Funding, responsibility and a check of the result turn an abstract vote into something residents can use. This is a practical chain a community can inspect and improve.
Inspect the assumptions and arithmetic
Budget and a named operator must both be available before 100 units are committed and the 40-unit advance paid. The remaining 60 is held until the completion rule is satisfied. Under report-only checking, either closed-ticket scenario qualifies. An independent check qualifies only when the selected scenario says the pump is repaired.
When the pump remains broken and the challenge route exists, assume residents report the fault in time; final payment is paused. This simplified model assumes accurate independent checks and timely reviews, and does not recover advances automatically. Real procurement needs verification costs, incentives, liability and a remedy after payment. Choosing “repaired” describes a scenario; it does not cause work to occur without funding and an operator.
Take this arrangement further.
Carry your settings into a private proposal. Add who can challenge the rule and what would justify changing it.
Return to the connected studyPreparing an amendment replaces your existing private draft.
Start with the world people need.
Homes, settlements, a river and productive activity have reference needs totalling 105 units. Change the priority rule and available supply.
Keep every claim in view
| Claim | Need | Allocation | Shortfall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households | 40 | 40 | 0 |
| Peripheral settlements | 20 | 20 | 0 |
| River ecology | 25 | 25 | 0 |
| Productive users | 20 | 20 | 0 |
0 units remain unallocated.
The stated needs are met within the available supply.
A resource account can show what is feasible and give people confidence that a promise fits the physical budget. Try a drier period and compare how the rules adapt.
Inspect the assumptions and arithmetic
Reference needs are arbitrary teaching inputs: 40/20/25/20. Established claims allocate 50%/5%/20%/25% of supply. The essentials rule shares water proportionally among the first three claims until their combined 85 units are met, then assigns up to 20 units to productive users. The proportional rule meets the same fraction of every reference need, capped at 100%.
Shortfall = max(need − allocation, 0). Under essentials and proportional allocation, supply beyond total needs remains unallocated. Under established claims, excess allocated to one group is not automatically reassigned. The example excludes water quality, infrastructure, seasonality, jobs and long-term effects of different priorities.
Take this arrangement further.
Carry your settings into a private proposal. Add who can challenge the rule and what would justify changing it.
Return to the connected studyPreparing an amendment replaces your existing private draft.
Let residents enlarge the picture.
The basin has 2.4 million residents. A continuity measure describes scheduled intervals for registered connections; coverage describes who enters that register.
300,000 residents become visible beside the headline.
A resident’s report can now trigger an assessment with a public response. That gives the wider picture someone responsible for examining it, including evidence that the existing instrument missed.
Showing the boundary creates a practical starting point: identify omitted needs, hear local evidence and decide which service improvements to fund.
Inspect the assumptions and arithmetic
Coverage = registered residents ÷ 2,400 thousand. Excluded population = 2.4 million − registered residents. Continuity is a separate input with a different denominator; it is not multiplied by coverage. Registration does not establish adequate water, and interval completion does not measure welfare.
The response choice changes an institutional obligation, not the calculated population or a predicted outcome. “Funded assessment” is an illustrative design assumption: no cost, capacity or success rate is simulated. Actual remediation must be funded, performed and verified separately.
Take this arrangement further.
Carry your settings into a private proposal. Add who can challenge the rule and what would justify changing it.
Return to the connected studyPreparing an amendment replaces your existing private draft.