Research theme ·
Real-world experiments
Documented attempts to run institutions differently — from participatory budgeting to special jurisdictions — with outcomes and post-mortems.
Open questions
Each question gathers claims, sources and counter-claims.- 01
What happened when people tried?
Outcomes and post-mortems for operating, contested, proposed and closed experiments, each with sources.
Hypothesis - 02
Which conditions separate durable experiments from short-lived ones?
Legal recognition, domestic political support, economic base and governance design compared across cases.
Hypothesis
Mechanisms in scope
Redistribution and accountability designs that become relevant if labour stops being the economy's main factor.
Compare them in the Explorer →MechanismApproval votingA voting method in which each voter may approve of as many candidates as they wish and the candidate with the most approvals wins. Used in city elections in Fargo (2020–2024) and St. Louis (since 2021).MechanismCommunity land trustA nonprofit holds land in trust and sells or leases the buildings on it with resale limits that keep housing affordable.MechanismCooperative ownershipAn enterprise owned and democratically controlled by its members — workers, consumers or residents — usually one member, one vote.MechanismInitiative and referendumTools of direct legislation: a citizen initiative puts proposals to a public vote by petition, and a referendum lets voters approve or reject measures. Central in Switzerland and many US states.MechanismMixed-member proportional representation (MMP)Voters cast a local-candidate vote and a party vote; list seats top up parties so total seats match the party vote. Used in Germany's Bundestag and New Zealand, which adopted it by referendum in 1993.MechanismParticipatory budgetingResidents directly decide how to spend part of a public budget through proposals, deliberation and votes.MechanismPopular assemblyAll eligible members meet in person to debate and decide, typically by show of hands or consensus.MechanismRanked-choice voting (instant-runoff)Voters rank candidates; the lowest-placed candidate is eliminated round by round and ballots transfer until one has a majority. Used for Australia's House of Representatives, Maine, Alaska and New York City primaries.MechanismRecall electionA procedure by which voters can remove an elected official before the end of the term, usually after a petition and a popular vote. Governors were recalled in North Dakota (1921) and California (2003); Newsom survived in 2021.MechanismSingle transferable vote (STV)A proportional method for multi-member districts: voters rank candidates, those reaching a quota win, and surplus or eliminated votes transfer. Constitutionally required for Ireland's Dáil; used for the Australian Senate.MechanismSortition / citizens' assemblyA body of citizens selected by lot, usually stratified to reflect the population, who learn, deliberate and recommend.