If we go into the convention with 10 different ideas to change each plank,
we will lose to the status quo. We need to achieve a consensus within the
caucus and present a coherent plan to the convention. This will be
challenging.
A High-Quality Discussion. As a first step, we need
high-quality discussion of options. This is the primary purpose of this
web site. Our current plan is to focus on quality edited essays and
proposals vs. free-wheeling message boards. This decision is up for later
review, but the reasons for doing so are:
Message boards generate a lot of low-quality chatter, wasting the
readers' time.
Message boards can cause undue acrimony. Flame wars can get ugly.
On the other hand, message boards may prove easier to manage and allow
fuller participation, so this decision is subject to review.
For now, please email the webmasters and ask for article submission guidelines.
A Consensus Building Vote. For each plank in the platform
that we propose, we need a voting system that truly reflects the will
of the group. Parliamentary style amendments of amendments and the like
fail in this regard. The system is too easy to "game."
Instant run-off voting is a possibility, but even there we could have problems
when there are many possibilities. There are pathological cases where a
minority position can still win when there are many options.
The Free State Project used
Condorcet
voting to choose which state to move
to. This is the gold standard of voting systems. Alas, it is complicated.
We may choose to do this on the web site, but it would not work too well
in person at the convention.
An interesting hybrid that we used to name this caucus is to do a
combination of preference voting followed by run-off voting.
In preference voting, voters vote for all the options that they prefer over
none of the above. Those options that fail to meet the consensus
threshold are dropped, and then run-off voting is done on the remaining
options. To date, this has worked well in person, though more experimentation
is needed.
The exact voting method is still to be determined. This is a subject to
be discussed in our Strategy [or Organization] area.
When do we vote? Do we hold a binding vote on the web and
then promote the result? Or do we wait until we reach the convention and
have a meeting before the convention has its platform debate. There are
arguments for either approach.
Waiting for the convention limits the time we have to act.
Voting by web allows backseat drivers, who won't be at the convention, to
control the decision.
Resolving this dilemma is something that needs to be discussed further.
