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The experiment:

Phase 1: "Ideas" forum (closed) ¦ Phase 2: "Debate" forum (closed) ¦ Phase 3: "Ballot" forum (closed) ¦ Vote (closed) ¦

As before, the threads for you to contribute to are at the bottom of the page. There are only two threads - one for comments or criticisms of the ballot paper, and one for the usual questions on process.

The Ballot

The draft options which will appear on the ballot paper (if they are not amended at this stage) are as follows. Each letter or pair of letters indicates the option or combination of options from which it was formed in phase 2:

• State funding to be in direct proportion to the number of elected representatives.
• Parties'/candidates' donations/membership/affiliation fees may be obtained from either corporate and/or individual sources.
• Political activities not to be limited in scope, but only to current financial restraints in election campaigns.

• State funding to constituency parties to be dependent on number of local paid-up members.
• Donations/membership fees to parties/candidates to be from individuals only.
• Political activities in the constituency election campaigns subject to current expenditure limits; nation-wide party activities at these times to be under tighter controls, both fiscal and functional (certain activities, ads etc, banned).

• State funding to constituency candidates (to those who subsequently pass a certain threshold of votes gained in the subsequent election).
• Donations/membership fees to parties/candidates to be from individuals only.
• Political activities not to be limited in scope, but only to current financial restraints in election campaigns.

• All state and corporate funding to be pooled into a "democracy capital fund", to finance activities in kind only, as administered by the Electoral Commission: party political broadcasts, election leaflets, occasional newspaper advertisements for all candidates/parties, all-party round-table debates, etc..
• Donations/membership fees to parties/candidates to be from individuals only.
• Political activities at both constituency and national level to be under tighter controls, both fiscal and functional (certain activities, ads etc, banned).

• State funding to be in kind only: party political broadcasts, election leaflets, occasional newspaper advertisements for all candidates/parties, all-party round-table debates, etc..
• Parties'/candidates' donations/membership/affiliation fees may be obtained from either corporate and/or individual sources.
• Political activities at both constituency and national level to be under tighter controls, both fiscal and functional (certain activities, ads etc, banned).

• Each voter to have two votes, one to elect a candidate, the other to fund a political organisation. State funding to parties/candidates to be determined by the second votes cast.
• Parties/candidates may also receive donations/membership fees but from individuals only.
• Political activities in the constituency subject to current expenditure limits; nation-wide party activities to be under tighter fiscal controls during election campaigns.

• State funding and corporate funding to be banned.
• Parties/candidates may receive donations/membership fees from individuals only.
• Political activities in the constituency subject to current expenditure limits; nation-wide party activities to be under tighter fiscal controls during election campaigns.

• State funding to be banned.
• Parties/candidates may receive donations and/or membership/affiliation fees from either corporate and/or individual sources.
• Political activities in the constituency election campaigns subject to current expenditure limits; nation-wide party activities at these times to be under tighter controls, both fiscal and functional (certain activities, ads etc, banned).

Summary Table:

Notes on how the ballot was drawn up

In phase 1, you had an electronic brain-storm, putting forward whatever ideas came to mind. And from this myriad of suggestions, we consensors (Peter Emerson, Jon Bright, Elizabeth Meehan and Perry Walker) collated a rather full list of 13 options.

Then came phase 2, the consensus debate, where we try to move beyond the majoritarian (and Orwellian) habit of saying “option X good, option Y bad”. Instead, people can identify their preferences: “option X is good because of whatsit, my 2nd preference is option Z due to such-and-such,” and so on.

In our own debate, there was praise for some options, and critiques of others. Now in consensus decision-making, of course, no-one has the power of veto. At the same time, if there is a lot of criticism of option W, say, then it becomes pretty obvious that W will not win a high level of consensus support.

Accordingly, we have dropped two suggestions, both of which were criticized mainly on the grounds of practicality: funding on the basis of ethno-diversity, and the notion of tax credits for voting. Meanwhile, the (Power Enquiry) suggestion on vouchers has been incorporated into the notion of the double vote. In all, we have finished with a draft ballot paper of 8 options. They are still in the same 5 families, and the current lettering still refers to the original classifications.

So, phase 3, and now we want your comments on the ballot paper in general. In other words, the debate has finished; we want to know whether or not you feel the draft ballot paper is fair. Do by all means say if you feel we have misrepresented, or failed to represent, or over-represented, one or more particular ideas.

When all is well, we will move to the consensus vote. The teller for this vote is the Equality Studies Centre in the School of Social Justice in University College Dublin. They will collate the votes and publish the two voters’ profiles, (i.e., two tables, one for each constituency, of all the preferences cast by all the voters... but the voters, of course, remain anonymous). Only then will we undertake the analysis and announce the results, but maybe you will already have worked it out from the profiles.

The Threads