News  

Enabling the Digital Democratic Revival:
A Research Program for Digital Democracy

by Davide Grossi, Ulrike Hahn, Michael Mäs, Andreas Nitsche,
Jan Behrens, Niclas Boehmer, Markus Brill, Ulle Endriss, Umberto Grandi, Adrian Haret, Jobst Heitzig, Nicolien Janssens, Catholijn M. Jonker, Marijn A. Keijzer, Axel Kistner, Martin Lackner, Alexandra Lieben, Anna Mikhaylovskaya, Pradeep K. Murukannaiah, Carlo Proietti, Manon Revel, Élise Rouméas, Ehud Shapiro, Gogulapati Sreedurga, Björn Swierczek, Nimrod Talmon, Paolo Turrini, Zoi Terzopoulou, Frederik Van De Putte
on January 30, 2024

This white paper outlines a long-term scientific vision for the development of digital-democracy technology. We contend that if digital democracy is to meet the ambition of enabling a participatory renewal in our societies, then a comprehensive multi-methods research effort is required that could, over the years, support its development in a democratically principled, empirically and computationally informed way.

» Read more…

Digital Democracy Podcast | Episode 3: Building Bridges with Algorithms — Standards for a Strong and Equitable Digital Democracy

on December 22, 2023

A panel with Ulrike Hahn and Michael Mäs, moderated by Andreas Nitsche at the National Coalition for Equity Impact (NCEI) Summit #2: Innovations in Equity — Contextualizing U.S. and International Perspectives. The summit was organized by RAND Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy in cooperation with the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany – Los Angeles, Interaktive Demokratie – Association for Interactive Democracy, Brasfield and Associates, Tangible Development, Fair Count, and Magic Soup Games. It was held in Santa Monica, California.

Episode 3 on YouTube

Digital Democracy Podcast | Episode 2: Using Deliberative Conversation Methods to Bridge Divides

on October 11, 2023

A conversation between Michael Mäs and Andreas Nitsche at the National Coalition for Equity Impact (NCEI) Summit #2: Innovations in Equity — Contextualizing U.S. and International Perspectives. The summit was organized by RAND Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy in cooperation with the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany – Los Angeles, Interaktive Demokratie – Association for Interactive Democracy, Brasfield and Associates, Tangible Development, Fair Count, and Magic Soup Games. It was held in Santa Monica, California.

Episode 2 on YouTube

Digital Democracy Podcast | Episode 1: LiquidFeedback ‧ Public Trust ‧ Equitable Deliberation ‧ Empowerment ‧ Citizen Consultation

on August 08, 2023

Statement by Andreas Nitsche at National Coalition for Equity Impact (NCEI) Summit #3: Centering Innovations in Equity — Developing Green and Smart Infrastructure Solutions in Communities, Municipalities, and Global Contexts. This event was organized by the RAND Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy in cooperation with the Consulate General of Finland – Los Angeles and the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany – Los Angeles. It was held at Cal Endowment in Los Angeles, California.

Episode 1 on YouTube

Innovations in Equity — Contextualizing U.S. and International Perspectives | Germany and Europe

by Ulrike Hahn, Michael Mäs, Andreas Nitsche
on July 24, 2023

National Coalition for Equity Impact (NCEI) Summit #2
in Santa Monica, California

This is the transcript of the debate on Using Deliberative Conversation Methods to Bridge Divides and the panel on Building Bridges with Algorithms — Standards for a Strong and Equitable Digital Democracy, presenting German and European experiences and perspectives.

» Read more…

National Coalition for Equity Impact (NCEI) Summit #3:
Centering Innovations in Equity — Developing Green and Smart Infrastructure Solutions in Communities, Municipalities, and Global Contexts | Los Angeles, California

on May 22, 2023

Los Angeles Green New Deal is one of the most ambitious and comprehensive programs for greening a metropolitan area. Aiming at carbon neutrality and sustainability generally requires utilizing extensive digital networks, efficient and inclusive data economy applications, and smart city solutions.

» Read more…

National Coalition for Equity Impact (NCEI) Summit #2:
Innovations in Equity — Contextualizing U.S. and International Perspectives | Santa Monica, California

on April 26, 2023

A discussion about ‘Innovations in Equity - Contextualizing US and International Perspectives’ and the many promises and perils of inclusive practices across spaces, including, standards development, neurodiversity, digital equity, algorithms/machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The goal of this summit is to articulate ways that we might co-create responses to inequities in these spaces in order to support the inclusion of marginalized populations equitably in public policy decisions.

» Read more…

Algorithmic Technology for Democracy

on October 10, 2022

Scientists from both sides of the Atlantic gather at the Lorentz Center in Leiden for a one week workshop in order to discuss digital democracy, social networks, algorithmic fairness, social influence, argumentation, and collective intelligence.

» Read more…

Communicating Across Political Fault Lines – Reaching the 'Unreachable'

on July 31, 2022

In recent years, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have observed the rise of populism along with growing levels of polarization and radicalization. Democracies are challenged by disinformation and online social networks have reshaped the way in which public opinion forms. Democratic societies experience a lack of dialogue between parts of society. At the Thomas Mann House, Martin Kaplan, Professor of Entertainment, Media and Society at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and 2022 Thomas Mann Fellow Andreas Nitsche get into conversation about what can be done to re-enable dialogue between segregated parts of society taking differences and commonalities between Germany and the United States into account. They explore the nexus between quality journalism and the prospects of large scale deliberation. They also address (new) communication strategies and their ethical implications.

» Read more…

An Interview with 2022 Thomas Mann Fellow Andreas Nitsche

on May 18, 2022

What is it like to live and work in the former home of the Mann family? What topic will you be pursuing during your fellowship? And what are you most looking forward to during your time here in California? The Thomas Mann House sat down with Andreas Nitsche, Computer Scientist and 2022 Thomas Mann House Fellow, to talk about his project and time in California.

» Read more…

Restoring Public Trust (VATMH Los Angeles)

on April 07, 2022

Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles hosted a four-day, multi-platform program in April 2022 with innovators from academia, artistic fields and politics to discuss concrete steps for restoring public trust in Germany and the U.S.

» Read more…

Berlin Conference 2021: Europe Bottom-Up!
and “State of Europe” speech by Charles Michel

by Axel Kistner on November 10, 2021

The annual Berlin Conference by Stiftung Zukunft Berlin took place from November 7 to November 9, 2021. The conference took off with a visit to Chemnitz, European Capital of Culture 2025. On the following days, the conference continued in Berlin at Allianz Forum, Pariser Platz. The conference was supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.

» Read more…

Liquid Democracy—A Transatlantic Affair

by Andreas Nitsche

On both sides of the Atlantic, liquid democracy continues to strike a chord in the field of democratic self-organization. By embracing individual freedom of choice, it seeks to reconcile the idealistic appeal of pure democracy with the practicality of representation. Liquid democracy is of particular interest for democratic governance in civil society organizations, legislative bodies, and cooperatives.

» Read more…

The Temporal Dimension in the Analysis of Liquid Democracy Delegation Graphs

by Jan Behrens, Axel Kistner, Andreas Nitsche, Björn Swierczek on March 28, 2021

In ongoing discussions on liquid democracy, we sometimes find arguments which appear to be based on the isolated examination of delegation graphs for a single decision as the underlying model. We believe that a comprehensive analysis of the functionality and the impact of liquid democracy requires a broader view, namely adding a temporal dimension to delegation models.

» Read more…

LiquidFeedback—An Interview with Andreas Nitsche

by Axel Kistner on March 09, 2021

Andrés Zambrano-Bravo talks with Andreas Nitsche about LiquidFeedback, the challenges of online opinion formation, and application fields. In the second part of the interview, they discuss Liquid Democracy and its use in LiquidFeedback.

» Read more…

Crossing the Pond: Interactive Democracy and Social Cohesion in a Polarized Society

by Andreas Nitsche on September 29, 2020

In recent years, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have seen the rise of populism. Society has been challenged by polarization, as well as the creation of seemingly antagonistic groups. The internet appears to contribute to this situation through micro-targeting, personalization, and, ultimately, alienation between large groups of the society.

» Read more…

Andreas Nitsche among the 2021 Thomas Mann Fellows

by Axel Kistner on July 30, 2020

We are pleased to announce that Andreas Nitsche is one of six fellows nominated for a 2021 residency at Thomas Mann House, the former home of Thomas Mann in Los Angeles. The following press release was published by Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House.

» Read more…

International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN)
Implementing online deliberative methods of engagement

by Andreas Nitsche on July 14, 2020

The Centre for Democratic Engagement and the UK House of Commons have joined forces to develop a network of academics and practitioners across the world, to critically examine public engagement with parliament: the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN).

» Read more…

Public Engagement and its Impact on Parliaments
An International Workshop at the UK House of Commons, London

by Andreas Nitsche on April 03, 2020

The UK House of Commons and the Centre for Democratic Engagement have joined forces to co-host a one day international workshop about parliamentary public engagement, focusing particularly on its impact on parliaments and their scrutiny processes.

» Read more…

10-Year Anniversary:
LiquidFeedback - from deliberation to binding decisions

by Axel Kistner on October 27, 2019

On this day a decade ago, the first release of LiquidFeedback was published. From political parties to intergovernmental organizations, from civic engagement to constituency empowerment, from employee participation to entrepreneurial self-governance, from product development to standardization - LiquidFeedback has morphed into an international benchmark for democratic participation using the internet.

» Read more…

2nd Workshop on ​Mathematics for Social Activism, University of Leeds, UK

by Andreas Nitsche on June 06, 2019

School of Mathematics, University of Leeds, June 6-7 2019
Funded by the London Mathematical Society

The 2-day workshop brings together mathematicians and data analysts from academia, industry, NGOs and government, focused on how mathematics and data can and are being used to drive social progress.

» Read more…

International WeGovNow workshop in Padua, Italy

by Martina Böll on January 17, 2019

With the WeGovNow project coming to an end after three years, it is now the time to put our heads together and discuss the project’s general bottom-up WeGovernment approach. With a view to not only discuss lessons learned but to stimulate further research or uptakes of the WeGovNow platform, an international exploitation workshop will take place next week in Padua, Italy.

» Read more…

WeGovNow working to improve Southwark’s streets

by Jonathan Hamston on December 21, 2018

The public administration in San Donà di Piave, one of our three pilot sites, and the local high schools Liceo Scientifico Galilei, Liceo Statale E. Montale and Istituto Tecnico Tecnologico Statale Volterra have concluded a formal agreement enabling 30 students to work as WeGovNow ambassadors.

» Read more…

LiquidFeedback goes Blockchain

by Jan Behrens on July 27, 2018

Today, the Interaktive Demokratie e. V. released the first prototype of the LiquidFeedback Blockchain, an internet software for creating peer-to-peer based applications, especially in the democratic domain. The inventors of LiquidFeedback successfully combined one decade of experience in enabling large groups of people with internet based collective proposition development and decision making with the disruptive ideas behind blockchains.

» Read more…

30 students work as WeGovNow ambassadors in San Donà di Piave

by Lutz Kubitschke on July 24, 2018

The public administration in San Donà di Piave, one of our three pilot sites, and the local high schools Liceo Scientifico Galilei, Liceo Statale E. Montale and Istituto Tecnico Tecnologico Statale Volterra have concluded a formal agreement enabling 30 students to work as WeGovNow ambassadors.

» Read more…

Turin launches WeGovNow public participation with FirstLife and LiquidFeedback

by Andreas Nitsche on March 19, 2018

The City of Turin launched the WeGovNow public pilot with FirstLife and LiquidFeedback. More WeGovNow applications will follow soon.

» Read more…

Successful WeGovNow stakeholder workshop in London

by Martina Böll on December 15, 2017

Project partner London Borough of Southwark hosted another WeGovNow stakeholder workshop this year and invited representatives of key actors to the Canada Water Library in London.

» Read more…

Venetian citizens impressed by WeGovNow prototype

by Martina Böll on October 12, 2017

An interactive WeGovNow booth captured visitors of a popular annual fair in San Donà di Piave, providing an ideal setting for an open, constructive dialogue between citizens and project representatives on the potentials that lie in the WeGovNow prototype as well as on the local issues for which the community engagement platform could be harnessed.

» Read more…

Wie LiquidFeedback der SPD bei der Erneuerung helfen kann

by Björn Swierczek on October 11, 2017 Only available in German

Dieser Artikel erschien zuerst auf der Online-Präsenz von
vorwärts : die Zeitung der deutschen Sozialdemokratie

Die Initiative SPD++ fordert von der Partei, stärker digitale Beteiligungsmöglichkeiten zu nutzen. Das ist ein richtiger Ansatz. Um ihre Erneuerung gemeinsam mit der Basis voranzutreiben, sollte die SPD LiquidFeedback nutzen – als erste Volkspartei Europas.

» Read more…

Eine Einladung an die Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD)

by Behrens/Kistner/Nitsche/Swierczek on October 04, 2017 Only available in German

Vor dem Hintergrund der Ergebnisse der Bundestagswahl gibt es in der SPD neue Bestrebungen, die Willensbildung zu modernisieren und dabei auch auf Online-Beteiligung zu setzen. Diese soll durch Themenforen ermöglicht werden, die sich nicht mehr am bisherigen Ortsprinzip der Partei orientieren. [1] Der entsprechende Antragsentwurf fordert, dass sich „jedes Parteimitglied […] unbürokratisch in […] Online-Themenforen beteiligen können“ soll. Diese Foren sollen „antragsberechtigt für den Bundesparteitag“ sein und „Delegierte für den Bundesparteitag“ stellen. [2] Genauso wie ein „analoger“ Parteitag nur durch eine durchdachte Geschäftsordnung fair bleiben kann, braucht auch digitale Online-Beteiligung demokratische Prozesse und faire Regeln, wie sie von herkömmlicher Internet-Software gar nicht geboten werden.

Wir laden die SPD daher zu einem Test der in Kürze verfügbaren Version 4.0 von LiquidFeedback ein und bieten unsere Unterstützung bei der Erstellung eines Umsetzungskonzeptes zur Online-Beteiligung an.

» Read more…

Wolfgang Gründinger fragt, LiquidFeedback antwortet

by Jan Behrens on September 21, 2017 Only available in German

In einem Beitrag auf der Online-Präsenz der sozialdemokratischen Zeitung „vorwärts“ beschäftigt sich der Sozialwissenschaftler Wolfgang Gründinger mit der Online-Abstimmungsplattform einer neuen Partei („Demokratie in Bewegung“, DiB). [1] Hierbei nimmt er auch auf LiquidFeedback Bezug, um aufzuzeigen, dass beim Einsatz von Online-Abstimmungsplattformen gewisse Fragen in der Vergangenheit angeblich nie hätten geklärt werden können.

» Read more…

Digital Democracy Workshop at King's College London, UK

by Axel Kistner on July 12, 2017

Paolo Gerbaudo, Director of the Centre for Digital Culture at King’s College London invited theorists and practitioners of digital democracy such as

» Read more…

WeGovNow stakeholder workshop in San Donà di Piave, Italy

by Lutz Kubitschke on June 28, 2017

The Teatro Metropolitano Astra in San Donà di Piave, Italy, provided an impressive surrounding for discussing the potentials generally provided by WeGovNow for achieving more participatory public services.

» Read more…

vorwärts Debatte: Liquid Democracy

by Andreas Nitsche on March 21, 2017 Only available in German

Dieser Artikel erschien zuerst auf der Online-Präsenz von
vorwärts : die Zeitung der deutschen Sozialdemokratie

Liquid Democracy kann die repräsentative Demokratie nicht ersetzen. Trotzdem könnte die Gesellschaft von Liquid Democracy profitieren – vor allem die Parteien sollten die Chance nutzen.

» Read more…

“The Future of Democracy” at the University of Bologna, Italy

by Axel Kistner on November 03, 2016

The Institute of Advanced Studies (ISA) of Europe’s oldest university, the University of Bologna, organized a workshop on “The Future of Democracy”. A workshop on the topic of democracy and participation is by its nature multidisciplinary, involving mathematics, computer science, social psychology, and political science. Invited speakers are experts from several European countries.

» Read more…

LiquidFeedback in London, Turin and San Donà di Piave

by Andreas Nitsche on July 01, 2016

“WeGovNow! - Towards We-Government: Collective and participative approaches for addressing local policy challenges” is an OpenStreetMap based E-Government solution to be validated and evaluated in London Southwark (UK), Turin (Italy) and San Donà di Piave (Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy) [1]. WeGovNow will seamlessly integrate applications such as Community Maps, GeoKey, FirstLife, ImproveMyCity, LiquidFeedback and OntoMap. The project will add new modules such as a TrustedMarketplace and be open for existing citizen services and third party applications in general. Mobile use will be possible with WeGovNow apps as well as third party apps. Municipalities can allow login by Facebook Login, Google Sign­In and Microsoft Account. For certain actions in WeGovNow municipalities may also require a verification by a national or local identity provider. Voting privileges can be gained by verification of an existing account.

» Read more…

Keynote speech on LiquidFeedback at COST Action Industry Day in Toulouse, France

by Axel Kistner on June 21, 2016

The COST Action IC1205 Industry Day [1] is held in Toulouse, France on June 21, 2016. The aim of the Industry Day is to bridge the gap between current theoretical research in computational social choice and innovative applications in industry and policy making related to collective decision making.

Andreas Nitsche, board member of the Association for Interactive Democracy, will deliver a keynote on the topic “LiquidFeedback and a fair process of decision making”. Other keynote speakers are Craig Boutilier (Google, USA), Elliott Peranson (National Matching Services Inc., Canada), Jacques Traoré (Orange Labs, France) and Matthew Robb (NHS Blood and Transplant, UK).

» Read more…

LiquidFeedback for Swiss water supply and distribution

by Axel Kistner on May 25, 2016

The Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute [1] in Rüschlikon/Zurich, Switzerland executed a creative workshop for members of the Swiss water economy in October 2015. In cooperation with partners from science, economy and culture the participants discussed extreme scenarios for the management of water supply and distribution. LiquidFeedback [2] was used to discuss, comment and evaluate several scenarios. The workshop also revealed the chances provided by LiquidFeedback for restructuring currently static procedures and complex processes.

» Read more…

LiquidFeedback 3.1 for democratic software and product development

by Andreas Nitsche on December 14, 2015

Today the Public Software Group published the software LiquidFeedback 3.1. LiquidFeedback is a software for proposition development and decision making using the internet and allowing large scale groups to develop and decide on propositions in a fair democractic process. The most significant innovation of version 3.1 is the possible integration of revision control systems as first described by Björn Swierczek in Summer 2015 in the paper “Democratic File Revision Control with LiquidFeedback”.

» Read more…

Association for Interactive Democracy (LiquidFeedback) in Bogotá, Colombia

by Axel Kistner on August 06, 2015

The Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (OACP) to the Colombian government has invited Andreas Nitsche, Board Member of Interaktive Demokratie e. V. - Association for Interactive Democracy to attend the conference “Conectados por la Paz” in Bogotá, Colombia on August 5, 2015. Public officials and advisors from different agencies of the national government and members of civil society organizations, examined the role that ICT could play in the promotion of citizen engagement during the implementation of the agreements that result from the current peace negotiations between the Colombian Government and the FARC.

» Read more…

Democracy conquers software and product development as well as knowledge management

by Axel Kistner on July 28, 2015

Björn Swierczek, co-developer of the open source software LiquidFeedback, is presenting a prototype of a new technology to the public today. It combines the concepts of LiquidFeedback with revision control systems, such as the software “Git” by the Linux developer Linus Torvalds.

» Read more…

LiquidFeedback joins CAPS 2015 at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium

by Axel Kistner on July 10, 2015

Andreas Nitsche, Board Member of Interaktive Demokratie e. V. - Association for Interactive Democracy has been invited to represent LiquidFeedback at the CAPS2015 conference under the aegis of the European Commission and coordinated by Sigma Orionis. For the second time, leading Collective Awareness Platforms for Sustainability and Social Innovation (CAPS) gathered in Brussels, Belgium on July 7 and 8, 2015.

» Read more…

Liquid Democracy research: mathematical proof shows structural deficits of preferential delegations; LiquidFeedback not affected by findings

by Andreas Nitsche on March 28, 2015

Just recently, Liquid Democracy enthusiasts suggested alternative delegation models different from the transitive delegations used in LiquidFeedback. These models are the so-called “preferential delegations” and also different hybrids combining the ideas of preferential and transitive delegations.

» Read more…

LiquidFeedback improves scalability for larger groups

by Björn Swierczek on March 25, 2015

The Public Software Group e.V. continuously enhances LiquidFeedback as open-source software and publishes it free to be downloaded by any organization. Last summer, the current version 3.0 of the software was released. This provided significant improvements through a new self-explanatory user interface. Recent research results in algorithmics were also implemented.

» Read more…

Presentation and Workshop “LiquidFeedback for Georgian Political Parties” in Tbilisi, Georgia

by Andreas Nitsche on November 03, 2014

The Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) in The Hague [1], the NIMD South Caucasus Representation [2] and the Association for Interactive Democracy (IAD) in Berlin [3] held a LiquidFeedback [4] presentation and workshop for Georgian political parties in Tbilisi and Kvareli, Georgia from October 28 - 29 2014. The event was also attended by representatives of Dutch political parties and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Stockholm.

The opening remarks for the presentation day in Tbilisi were delivered by His Excellency Hans P.P.M. Horbach, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Georgia and Armenia, Kati Piri, Member of the European Parliament, and Levan Tsutskiridze, NIMD Representative in the South Caucasus.

» Read more…

LiquidFeedback at UNDP conference “Technology & Strengthening Democracy” in Islamabad, Pakistan

by Axel Kistner on October 12, 2014

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) [1] [2] has invited Andreas Nitsche, Board Member of Interaktive Demokratie e. V. - Association for Interactive Democracy [3] to attend the conference “Technology & Strengthening Democracy” [4] to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan from October 14 - 16 2014. The conference will discuss the role of technology in strengthening democracy.

Nitsche will present LiquidFeedback [5] with a focus on political party development and on how technology can be applied to provide a fully self organized proposition development and decision-making process. He will elaborate on challenges and solutions for a fair democratic process: collective moderation, minority protection, dealing with noisy minorities, preferential voting and verifiability.

» Read more…

LDAP based member authorization and authentication support added to LiquidFeedback

by Björn Swierczek on July 23, 2014

Last week, the Public Software Group received the extension “ldap4lqfb” as contribution for LiquidFeedback. This extension implements member authorization and authentication using an LDAP server as described in the feature proposal.

» Read more…

NIMD hosts the international launch of The Principles of LiquidFeedback

by Will Derks on January 30, 2014

On 28 January 2014 the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy hosted the international launch of the book The Principles of LiquidFeedback, which deals extensively with the open-source software LiquidFeedback.  Preceded by a Foreword by Dr Will Derks of NIMD, the book discusses in over 200 pages all the relevant aspects of such an innovative democratic tool; from state-of –the-art voting theory to possible areas for application.

The launch was attended by representatives of Dutch political parties, ministries and NIMD’s partner organizations, among others International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assisstance).

» Read more…

The Principles of LiquidFeedback to be launched in The Hague and Berlin

by Andreas Nitsche on December 19, 2013

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new book The Principles of LiquidFeedback and the presentation of “LiquidFeedback 3.0” at the following locations and times:

» Read more…

The Principles of LiquidFeedback – Subscription phase started

by Björn Swierczek on November 25, 2013

The subscription phase for our new book The Principles of LiquidFeedback has now started.

Subscribers can purchase the book at the price of € 20 (shipping included) instead of the regular price of € 30. Along with the book all buyers will be granted additional access to a digital version of the book.

Furthermore, we would like to invite the subscribers to our book launch in January 2014, where we will also present “LiquidFeedback 3.0″ to the public.

» Read more…

The Principles of LiquidFeedback

by Björn Swierczek on November 22, 2013

Our new book “The Principles of LiquidFeedback” will be published in January 2014:

This book gives an in-depth insight into the philosophical, political and technological aspects of decision making using the internet and into the “secrets” of LiquidFeedback, a computer software designed to empower organizations to make democratic decisions independent of physical assemblies, giving every member of the organization an equal opportunity to participate in the democratic process.

» Read more…

Workshop “Political Parties and the Citizens” in Yangon, Myanmar

by Axel Kistner on November 10, 2013

The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), Singapur, organized a workshop “Political Parties and the Citizens” to be held in Yangon, Myanmar from 14 – 16 November 2013. [1] The workshop is part of the Democratisation And Justice Series [2] of the Political and Economic Department of ASEF. [3] The workshop focuses on how political parties interact with citizens and citizen movements in countries across Asia and Europe.

» Read more…

liquidlabs.org gegründet

by Axel Kistner on December 27, 2012 Only available in German

In Berlin wurde in der vergangenen Woche das Projekt liquidlabs.org ins Leben gerufen. Zwei der Erfinder von LiquidFeedback, Jan Behrens und Björn Swierczek, haben sich mit dem Projekt das Ziel gesetzt, Grundlagenarbeit zu leisten, um "Voraussetzungen für die Gründung einer Partei zu erarbeiten, in der sich Menschen selbstbestimmt und frei organisieren können." [1] Weitere Informationen veröffentlicht das Projekt auf seinem Blog unter http://liquidlabs.org/.

» Read more…

Using LiquidFeedback in “polling mode” isn’t just casting a poll!

by Jan Behrens on October 16, 2012

LiquidFeedback version 2.1 introduced a new feature, the so-called "polling mode". While there are several analogies to classical polls, in this blog post we will point out, that LiquidFeedback in "polling mode" does much more than offering a simple poll.

When integrating LiquidFeedback in existing democratic systems (based on elected representatives), you might want to be able to poll people's opinions about propositions, which are voted upon in the assembly of delegates. If it is clear, that a proposition will be processed in the meeting, then simply starting a normal LiquidFeedback initiative to poll people's opinions might lead to unexpected results:

» Read more…

Transitive Delegations in LiquidFeedback

by Björn Swierczek on July 07, 2012

It's not always possible for everyone to make a well-founded decision on every topic. To overcome this problem of direct democracy, LiquidFeedback provides the possibility to delegate your vote to someone else - and to revoke those delegations at any time. This leads to

  • transparent division of work within the democratic process, while keeping everyones ability to directly participate in any issue at any time
  • nondiscrimination of those people who do not have the time or ability to vote for each issue themselves

» Read more…

LiquidFeedback 2.0 released

by Jan Behrens on June 30, 2012

Immer wieder werden wir auf Bürgerbeteiligungsprojekte oder Beteiligungsprojekte unter Einbeziehung der Öffentlichkeit angesprochen. Wir haben potentiellen Anwendern stets vom Einsatz abgeraten, wenn klar wurde, dass aufgrund der Rahmenbedingungen kein ernsthafter Einsatz möglich ist. Als Beispiele seien hier die Enquête-Kommision Internet und digitale Gesellschaft des Deutschen Bundestages [1] oder die Aktion des Zeit-Magazins zur Gestaltung eines Heftes genannt.

» Read more…

Etopia News L.A. talks with Andreas Nitsche

by Axel Kistner on June 27, 2012

On the occasion of the upcoming release of LiquidFeedback 2.0 Marc Strassman (Etopia News L.A.) interviews Andreas Nitsche on the history and future of the project. They talk about concepts, new features, current and future users of LiquidFeedback.

Strassman: It's 12.02 p.m. in Los Angeles on Monday the 25th of June 2012. I am Marc Strassman, reporter for Etopia News. It is 9 p.m. in Berlin where I am about to speak to Andreas Nitsche, co-developer of LiquidFeedback. Thank you for talking to us on Etopia News.

Nitsche: Thank you very much. It's great to be here.

» Read more…

LiquidFeedback 2.0 - We proceeded on

by Björn Swierczek on June 06, 2012

The developers of LiquidFeedback are pleased to announce the upcoming release date of LiquidFeedback version 2.0.

» Read more…

Bürgerbeteiligung mit LiquidFeedback

by Axel Kistner on May 02, 2012 Only available in German

Immer wieder werden wir auf Bürgerbeteiligungsprojekte oder Beteiligungsprojekte unter Einbeziehung der Öffentlichkeit angesprochen. Wir haben potentiellen Anwendern stets vom Einsatz abgeraten, wenn klar wurde, dass aufgrund der Rahmenbedingungen kein ernsthafter Einsatz möglich ist. Als Beispiele seien hier die Enquête-Kommision Internet und digitale Gesellschaft des Deutschen Bundestages [1] oder die Aktion des Zeit-Magazins zur Gestaltung eines Heftes genannt.

» Read more…

Upcoming milestone release: LiquidFeedback 2.0

by Björn Swierczek on March 01, 2012

The developers of LiquidFeedback are pleased to announce the upcoming release date of LiquidFeedback version 2.0.

» Read more…

LiquidFeedback Preisträger der Suma Awards 2011

by Axel Kistner on September 29, 2011 Only available in German

LiquidFeedback ist einer der Preisträger der SuMa Awards 2011.

Die SuMa Awards werden jedes Jahr vom SuMa e. V. - Verein für freien Wissenszugang vergeben. Die diesjährige Preisverleihung fand während des SuMa-Kongresses am 28.09.2011 in der Vertretung des Landes Niedersachsen beim Bund in Berlin statt. Herr Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Walther Umstätter hielt die Laudatio.

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Core 2.0.0 released, public alpha test of new API interface and call for applications

by Björn Swierczek on September 11, 2011

LiquidFeedback Core 2.0.0 released

Today the Public Software Group e. V. released version 2.0.0 of LiquidFeedback Core, the main part of LiquidFeedback consisting of a PostgreSQL database schema and a background job for counting. This first version of the new major release line is dedicated to developers as it still needs some testing.

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Entwicklerplattform dev.liquidfeedback.org gestartet

by Jan Behrens on February 07, 2011 Only available in German

Die Fortentwicklung von LiquidFeedback wird zukünftig auf der neuen Entwicklerplatform unter http://dev.liquidfeedback.org/ koordiniert. Die Projektkoordination und die Veröffentlichung von Softwarereleases wird auch zukünftig ebenso wie der Betrieb der neuen Entwicklerplattform durch den Public Software Group e. V. durchgeführt werden.

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Aussetzen von Stimmgewicht bei Inaktivität

by Jan Behrens on February 06, 2011 Only available in German

Mit dem Update auf LiquidFeedback-Kern Version 1.3.1 und dem dazugehörigen Frontend beta31 lässt sich das Stimmgewicht von Benutzern, die sich länger nicht mehr eingeloggt haben, automatisch entziehen.

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Entwickler gründen Interaktive Demokratie e. V.

by Jan Behrens on June 27, 2010 Only available in German

Seit der Veröffentlichung von LiquidFeedback gab es seitens verschiedener Parteien und anderer Vereinigungen immer wieder Nachfragen bezüglich Informationsveranstaltungen zu LiquidFeedback und dem Einsatz elektronischer Medien zu demokratischen Zwecken. Da die Durchführung solcher Veranstaltungen den Rahmen der Public Software Group sprengt, haben sich Entwickler von LiquidFeedback zu einem neuen Verein "Interaktive Demokratie e. V." zusammengeschlossen.

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Core stable, öffentlicher Lesezugriff und Programmierschnittstelle

by Björn Swierczek on April 18, 2010 Only available in German

Nachdem sich der Kern von LiquidFeedback einige Zeit im wesentlichen unverändert im produktiven Einsatz bewähren konnte, haben wir ihn nunmehr offiziell als stabile Version v1.0.0 deklariert (Sektkorken!). Das Frontend wird sicherlich noch einige Zeit "Beta" bleiben, da diverse Funktionen noch nicht fertig gestellt sind. Dennoch halten wir es aufgrund der in den letzten Monaten gesammelten Erfahrungen des realen Betriebs bereits jetzt für einsatzfähig. An dieser Stelle möchten wir uns bei allen Kontributoren, Testern, Unterstützern und Anwendern für die Mitarbeit und das konstruktive Feedback danken - ohne dies wäre LiquidFeedback heute noch nicht soweit wie es ist!

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Die Präferenzwahl richtig nutzen

by Jan Behrens on February 15, 2010 Only available in German

Oftmals gibt es den Fall, dass mehrere Anträge zur Abstimmung zugelassen werden, die man grundsätzlich unterstützenswert findet und die sich evtl. nur in Detailfragen unterscheiden. Um zu vermeiden, dass diese Anträge trotz einer eigentlich bestehenden Mehrheit aufgrund von gegenseitiger Stimmenwegnahme nicht beschlossen werden können, gibt es in LiquidFeedback die Möglichkeit, mehreren konkurrierenden Anträgen GLEICHZEITIG zuzustimmen. Die verschiedenen Alternativanträge lassen sich außerdem in eine persönliche Präferenzreihenfolge bringen.

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Transparenz und Nachvollziehbarkeit bei LiquidFeedback

by Jan Behrens on February 06, 2010 Only available in German

Kein System ist unangreifbar. Genau aus diesem Grund wurde beim Design von LiquidFeedback ein besonderes Augenmerk darauf gelegt, die gesamte Stimmenauszählung nachvollziehbar zu gestalten, so dass sich jeder Teilnehmer selbst von der korrekten Zählung seiner Stimme überzeugen kann. Da hierbei auch Delegationen eine Rolle spielen, wird bei jedem Thema zu bestimmten kritischen Zeitpunkten ein sogenannter "Snapshot" erzeugt, der eine Kopie der aktuellen Unterstützersituation incl. der verwendeten Delegationen darstellt.

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LiquidFeedback via mercurial – Bessere Unterstützung für Administratoren und Entwickler

by Jan Behrens on January 30, 2010 Only available in German

Ab sofort ist LiquidFeedback nicht nur als komprimiertes Tar-Archiv, sondern auch mittels eines verteilten Versionsverwaltungssystems (mercurial) verfügbar. Entwicklern wird es dadurch leichter gemacht, über Änderungen am Quellcode den Überblick zu behalten. Administratoren können auf einfachere Art Updates installieren, auch dann, wenn Anpassungen an der Software für die eigenen Bedürfnisse vorgenommen wurden. Zukünftige Updates werden ggf. schon vor einem offiziellen Release im jeweiligen Repository verfügbar sein.

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Zur technischen Umsetzung von LiquidFeedback

by Jan Behrens on January 06, 2010 Only available in German

Die LiquidFeedback Implementation gliedert sich in zwei Teile: Den LiquidFeedback Kern (Core) und das LiquidFeedback Frontend. Die Speicherstruktur aller Daten sowie die Stimmenauszählung unter Berücksichtigung vorhandener Delegationen und das Überführen der Themen und Initiativen in die verschiedenen Antragsstadien ist Teil des Kerns. Die gesamte Bedienoberfläche einschließlich Benutzerauthentifizierung ist Teil des Frontends.

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Liquid Democracy – was fließt hier eigentlich und wohin?

by Andreas Nitsche on December 16, 2009 Only available in German

Liquid Democracy vereinigt Elemente der repräsentativen und der direkten Demokratie. Ein Stimmberechtigter kann einen Repräsentanten mit der Wahrnehmung seiner Interessen beauftragen. Anders als bei der Wahl eines Amtsinhabers oder Abgeordneten kann die Delegation aber jederzeit geändert werden und der Stimmberechtigte kann seine Interessen auf Wunsch selbst wahrnehmen.

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Hallo Welt!

by Axel Kistner on December 16, 2009 Only available in German

Liquid Democracy vereinigt Elemente der repräsentativen und der direkten Demokratie. Ein Stimmberechtigter kann einen Repräsentanten mit der Wahrnehmung seiner Interessen beauftragen. Anders als bei der Wahl eines Amtsinhabers oder Abgeordneten kann die Delegation aber jederzeit geändert werden und der Stimmberechtigte kann seine Interessen auf Wunsch selbst wahrnehmen.

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