Burgess: Decision Making on the Web

Gunnar Ristroph
Caltech

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     Last modified: March 15, 2005

Abstract
Burgess is a web-based tool that allows members of a group to conduct business online: users can propose, discuss, and vote on bills. Burgess implements the Ristroph Deliberative Democratic Protocol with a simple user interface.

The Ristroph Deliberative Democratic Protocol is a formalization of a very simple set of open agenda rules conducive to online meetings. Any member may propose a bill at any time with the author setting the duration for which a bill will be considered. All members can immediately vote on and discuss the bill. At the end of the prescribed time, discussion ends and the votes are tallied, quorum required. Any number of bills may be considered at once.

Burgess is written in Python and is totally secure. Features of Burgess include bill searching and optional email notification of new bills. Automatic related-bill finding allows users to quickly see bills on the same topic from the archives or in active consideration.

Burgess is meant to be a key tool in a suite of technologies that groups may use to deliberate online. It could also be used to formalize the decisions of a group that already has other means of reaching consensus.