Democracy method

Citizens' assemblies need a final signal they can explain

Citizens' assemblies depend on representative selection, evidence, facilitation, and deliberation. Nicolas supports the narrower step of helping participants prioritize recommendations or alternatives after deliberation.

Start a decisionSee the mechanism

Nicolas mechanism signals

These concepts follow the mathematical contract used by the app.

Convex cost

cost = c * sum a_ij^2

Voice budget

sum a_ij^2 <= B

Outcome rule

shifted softmax over support

What assembly software usually has to do

A citizens' assembly needs participant recruitment, sortition, information management, facilitation, scheduling, public legitimacy, and reporting, which Nicolas does not replace.

Its fit appears when the assembly needs to compare proposals or recommendations after participants have deliberated.

Why intensity-aware voting can help

Assembly members may agree on broad goals while disagreeing strongly about priorities, risks, or implementation paths.

Quadratic voting lets members show which recommendation they prefer and how strongly they support or oppose each option under a finite voice budget.

A responsible role for Nicolas

Nicolas can support recommendation prioritization, internal agenda setting, or testing the strength of concern around alternatives.

Nicolas does not provide sortition, facilitation, evidence review, or an official public mandate by itself.

Use cases

Where this decision model helps

Recommendation voting

Measure support and opposition across draft recommendations after deliberation.

Agenda focus

Find which issues deserve more assembly time before final reporting.

Concern mapping

Identify concentrated concern that needs explanation in the final report.

FAQ

Can Nicolas run a citizens' assembly?

No. Nicolas can support voting within or after an assembly process, but it does not manage sortition, facilitation, evidence, scheduling, or public reporting.

Where would Nicolas fit in an assembly?

Nicolas fits after deliberation, when participants need to compare recommendations or alternatives with an intensity-aware voting mechanism.

Does quadratic voting make assembly results binding?

No. The assembly sponsor or governance process decides whether results are binding. Nicolas only produces the decision signal.

Keep reading

Continue with adjacent concepts and practical Nicolas workflows.

Deliberative democracySee how Nicolas fits after discussion and evidence review.Participatory democracyExplore decision signals inside broader participation processes.