how “civic technologies” can create happy citizens and improve local government

TruckeeChamber.com TTCTV.org

NewLeaders.com TheLiftCoworking.com

HollandHart.com

UsePayIt.com

Sponsors

Community Partners

TahoeDonner.com/pizza-

on-the-hill

TruckeeRoundHo

use.org1

Governance Sciences Group, Inc. (c) 2017 US Patent Pending

http://www.truckeechamber.com/

http://ttctv.org/

https://newleaders.com/

https://www.theliftcoworking.com/

https://www.hollandhart.com/

https://usepayit.com/

http://www.tahoedonner.com/pizza-on-the-hill

http://www.truckeeroundhouse.org/

Kevin Lyons, Co-Founder & CEO

[email protected], 510-593-4901

The Science and Technology of Good Government

How “Civic Technologies” Can Create Happy Citizens and Improve Local Government, July 10, 2017


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mailto:[email protected]


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About Us

The scientific way to engage citizens

Technologies for better government

GSG LABS

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?


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Open Ended: Why Are You Here?

• Pizza and people (and beer) and what else…?


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Multiple Choice: Like Any of These?

• Dissatisfaction– Why are citizens unhappy with their governments today?

• Polarization– What is the common ground where all citizens agree?

• Public Input– Why do citizens and government need better public input?

• Influence– Why are “the noisy” more influential than “the many”?

• FlashVote– What is it and how does it help governments?

• Other Civic Technologies– How can technology improve government services– How can we displace politics with software?

• Other (Electoral College, Supermajorities, Corruption, etc.)


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Talk Format


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• Interactive warmup

• Civics refresher (Good Government Basics)

• Some topics you choose

• Open questions and answers

LETS GET WARMED UP


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What is Special About July 4, 1776?


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Hint: The July 3, 1776 Org Chart


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State Government

Citizens (You)

King

July 3, 1776

What is Special About July 4, 1776?


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State Government

Citizens (You)

State Governments

US Government

King Citizens (You)

July 3, 1776 July 4, 1776

What is Democracy?


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Hint: Its Not About Voting


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What Is Democracy?

•Demos = The People

•Kratia = Power, Rule

The People Rule Themselves


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Is Donald Trump Your President?


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Hint: Who Do You Work For?


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What Would You Do?


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Hint: What Would A Cat Do?


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Which Statement is True?

• Governments waste citizens money


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• Governments save citizens money

A B

GOOD GOVERNMENT:CIVICS REFRESHER


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Government We Can All Agree On

• Why do we have governments?

• What are governments supposed to do?

• How are governments supposed to do it?

• How can we help make governments better?


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The Humble Beer Run

22Governance Sciences Group, Inc. (c) 2017

US Patent Pending

Many Acceptable Beer Formats


US Patent Pending



US Patent Pending


US Patent Pending

Many Possible Ways To Get Beer


US Patent Pending


Many Possible “Failure Modes”


US Patent Pending



US Patent Pending

But We All Know The Same Rules

• Group funds are for whole group interests– Get all the beer you can get for us with our money

• No unauthorized use of group funds– For personal interest

• Don’t spend the money on snacks just for you

– For subgroup interest• Don’t get beer only a few people like

– For non-group interest • Don’t overpay for beer or give it away to someone else


US Patent Pending

Guidelines Are Explicit And Implicit

• Problem– Our group needs more beer: fastest, cheapest, best way?

• Explicit Authorization: What the group tells you to do– Use our pooled money to buy beer

• Explicit Prohibition: What the group tells you to not do– No light beer

• Implicit Instructions: What the group expects you to do and not do– Don’t spend the money on snacks just for you– Don’t get beer only a few people like – Don’t overpay for beer or give it away– Get beer in the cheapest serving size… etc.


US Patent Pending

GOOD GOVERNMENT:LOCAL GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE


US Patent Pending

Local Government Creation

Citizen Contributions


US Patent Pending

Local Government Common Pools

Common Cash(Taxes and Fees)



US Patent Pending



Common Property (Public Facilities)



US Patent Pending




Common Behaviors (Public Policy)



US Patent Pending






Operating Budget

Common Funds Management

Systems and Agents

Operational Revenues and Expenditures

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Expenses







Operating Budget Capital Budget


Systems and Agents

Common Property Management

Systems and Agents


Capital Improvement Revenues and Expenditures

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Expenses Investments







Operating Budget Capital Budget Local Ordinances


Systems and Agents


Systems and Agents

Common Rights Management

Systems and Agents



Local Ordinance Penalties and Enforcement

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Expenses Investments Rules


Isolated Government Common Pools




Taxpayers

Operating Budget Capital Budget Local Ordinances


Systems and Agents


Systems and Agents


Systems and Agents



Local Ordinance Penalties and Enforcement

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Expenses Investments Rules


Property Owners Residents

Government Is Pool Management


Systems and Agents


Systems and Agents


Systems and Agents

What is the new problem (or opportunity)?

What solutions would be within explicitly delegated authority?

What solutions would also be within implicitly delegated authority?

What proposed solutions are expected to be best?

What solutions actually prove to be best?

What is the shared goal (better/faster/cheaper X, Y, Z) for the pool? Initial:

Ongoing:


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Beer Runs vs. Governments

• A beer run is one-time, governments are ongoing

• A beer run gets immediate feedback, governments have one election every few years

• A beer run is done by a trusted friend, but…


US Patent Pending

Governments Have Politicians


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GOOD GOVERNMENT:CITIZEN EXPECTATIONS OF OFFICIALS


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Who Would You Hire to do a Job?


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You

Your “Agent”

Who Would You Hire?


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A B

I’LL do what I want

I’LL do what YOU want

Who Would You Hire?


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A B



Who Would You Fire?


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A B



Who Would You Fire?


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A B



Who Would You Jail?


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A B C



YOU’LL do what I want


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Who Would You Jail?

A B C



YOU’LL do what I want

Which Group Would You Hire/Fire/Jail?


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You

Your “Agents”

Which Group Would You Hire?


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A B C

WE’LL do what WE want

YOU’LL do what WE want

WE’LL do what YOU want

Which Group Would You Hire?


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A B C




Which Group Would You Fire?


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A B C




Which Group Would You Jail?


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A B C




Which Group Would We Hire/Fire/Jail?


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Us

Our “Agents”

Which Group Would We Hire?


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A B C


YA’LL will do what WE want

WE’LL do what Y’ALL want

Which Group Would We Hire?


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A B C




Which Group Would We Fire?


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A B C




Which Group Would We Jail?


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A B C




You’ve Been Hired as a Public Servant


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Citizens (Public Masters)

Public Servants

So What Is Your One Job?


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Public Servants

WE’LL do what Y’ALL

want

You’ve Been Elected to Public Service


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Public Servants

Council WE’LL do what Y’ALL

want

So What Is Your One Job?


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Public Servants

WE’LL make sure THEY do what

Y’ALL want

Council WE’LL do what Y’ALL

want

Are Expectations Being Met?


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https://act.represent.us/sign/the-problem

The General Public Perspective


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Recap

• Why do we have governments?– To do things faster, better and cheaper than any other option

by putting cash, property and behaviors into common pools

• What are governments supposed to do?– Manage these group pools (spend money, make investments,

make rules) for the best common interests of constituents

• How are governments supposed to do this?– Within the explicit and implicit authorizations they have from

constituents (charters, prohibitions, common interests, etc)– As cheaply as possible for a given quality– As valuable as possible for a given cost

• How can we help? (Why is this hard to achieve in practice?)– Missing meaningful guidance and feedback from constituents…


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Questions So Far?


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Feedback So Far?


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• Any comments/suggestions/disagreements?

• On to your topics…

DISSATISFACTION:WHY ARE CITIZENS UNHAPPY WITH

THEIR GOVERNMENTS TODAY?


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Government Basics


Citizens (You)

Government

Government

Citizens (You)

A B

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Which org chart would you rather be in?

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Government Basics


Citizens (You)

Government

Government

Citizens (You)

A B

Which org chart would you rather be in?

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100%

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Government Basics


Citizens (You)

Government

Government

Citizens (You)

A B

Which org chart is “Democracy”?

7979

Government Basics


Citizens (You)

Government

Government

Citizens (You)

A B

Which org chart is “Democracy”?

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100%

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Government Basics


Citizens (You)

Government

Government

Citizens (You)

A B

Which org chart feels most like reality?

8181

Government Basics


Citizens (You)

Government

Government

Citizens (You)

A B

Which org chart feels most like reality?

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100%

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Government Basics


Citizens (You)

Government

Government

Citizens (You)

A B

Which org chart is established by law?

8383

Government Basics


Citizens (You)

Government

Government

Citizens (You)

A B

Which org chart is established by law?

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~50% ~50%

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What Everyone Wants


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Public Servants

Citizens and local governments can both want “A” to be reality…



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Public Servants

YOU are just doing what YOU want!

But public input gaps can make “B” emerge as the perceived result

But WHAT do Y’ALL want us to

do?

What Everyone Gets

The Citizen Perspective


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POLARIZATION:WHAT DO ALL CITIZENS WANT?


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What Does “The Public” Want?


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So… WHAT do you want us to do?

Is An “Everyone Party” Possible?

• How could all citizens possibly agree on what they want their government to do?


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True Statements

• No conservative ever asked their government to waste their money

• No liberal ever asked their government to treat them badly


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True Statements?

• No liberal ever asked their government to waste their money

• No conservative ever asked their government to treat them badly


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True Statements!

• No citizen ever asked their government to waste their money

• No citizen ever asked their government to treat them badly


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Have You Authorized This?


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Did She Authorize This?


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Aggregation Creates “Commandments”

• No citizen ever asked their government to…

• Every citizen wants their government to…


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Government shalt not…

Government shalt…

Universal Public Interests


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Must Do Must Do Maybe Do

Must Do Nothing to Do Must Not Do

Maybe Do Must Not Do Must Not Do

Is t

he

Ou

tco

me

Ch

eap

er?

Cost Less

Same Cost

Cost More

Better Quality Same Benefit Worse Quality

Is the Outcome Quality Better for the Public?

Universal Public Interests


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Must Do Must Do Maybe Do

Need To Ask Public About Tradeoffs

Must Do Nothing to Do Must Not Do

Maybe Do

Need To Ask Public About Tradeoffs

Must Not Do Must Not Do

Cost Less

Same Cost

Cost More

Better Quality Same Benefit Worse Quality

Is the Outcome Quality Better for the Public?

Is t

he

Ou

tco

me

Ch

eap

er?

The Common Ground Compass


US Patent Pending

INFLUENCE:WHY ARE THE “NOISY FEW” MORE INFLUENTIAL THAN THE “MANY”?


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What Does The Public Want?


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Public Servants

Council

?

Your Community


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“Great!”“Hate!”

Who You Usually Hear From


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Does The Community Think This?


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?

Or This? (You Have No Idea!)


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?

You Need To Hear From The Many


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But…

• You may not get large samples of citizensat public meetings


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But…

• They may not get representative participationat public meetings


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But…

• They may not get constructive inputat public meetings


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But…

• They may not get informed opinionsat public meetings


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So… Social Media?

• Social media can actually amplify the noisiest


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Posting

Reading> 100x

So… Online Civic Forums?

• They also have small samples and self-selected participation


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(pop. 433,731)

So… Online Surveys?

• They are unscientific and citizens don’t trust the results


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So… Traditional Scientific Surveys?

• You could do “professional” and “scientific”surveys but they cost $20,000 to $40,000+ and take many weeks or months for results


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The Local Government Perspective


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• Government officials tell us they are frustrated with “governing in a vacuum” and “tired of throwing darts”…

PUBLIC INPUT:WHY DO CITIZENS NEED

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLIC INPUT?


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The Year is 1972

• What percent of white Americans favored segregation?


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The Year is 1972


• What percent of whites believed a majority of whites in their area favored segregation?


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The Year is 1972




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15%

The Year is 1972




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15%

72%

PUBLIC INPUT:WHY DO GOVERNMENTS NEED

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLIC INPUT?


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Proposed Garbage Service Change

• Honest perception by well-intentioned official


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“A majority are in favor and the rest don’t give a crap”

A Majority Was Not In Favor


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• FlashVote survey found almost 2 to 1 against

Serious Problems Were Overlooked

• Citizens identified nonobvious flaws in the proposal and suggested better alternatives


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Public Input and Interest Prevailed

• One citizen who participated printed out the results, brought them to the meeting, and announced the results in public comment

• The proposal was not adopted and residents saved over $1000 each for a service change that would have harmed them and cost extra


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FLASHVOTE:HOW CAN FLASHVOTE HELP MAKE

GOVERNMENTS BETTER?


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Imagine…


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• What if scientific citizen surveys could be 95% faster, cheaper and easier?

• Governments could get actionable input from the public as a whole whenever they wanted

In Other Words…


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We make citizen surveys irresistible

95% faster 95% cheaper 100% easier

48 hours vs 6+ weeks <$1,000 vs $20,000+ We do all the work

Now You Can Hear From The Many


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Not Just the Noisy and Angry


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In Math


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Public Input ValueFlashVote Users

( Meeting Gadflies + Internetlopers )=

In An Org Chart


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Public Servants

Council

WE’LL make sure THEY do what

Y’ALL want

WE’LL do what Y’ALL

want

How It Works For Governments


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https://youtu.be/SODvkuAXpv0

https://youtu.be/SODvkuAXpv0

A Customer Explains FlashVote

https://youtu.be/23KglSShL7Y


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https://youtu.be/23KglSShL7Y

A Scientific Way to Survey and Engage

• FlashVote gets large samples of representative citizens to answer professionally designed questions –quickly, frequently and automatically

• Governments use these fast and scientific results to deliver more valued services, to save money, and to make citizens happier


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SUMMARY


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Citizens and Governments Love FlashVote


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• Participation and value both grow over time

FlashVote Solves Many Problems

Civic Engagement

Connect with your citizens regularly and effortlessly, to make them much happier


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Neighborhood/Advisory

Easily target and filter feedback requests by custom geographic regions and demographics

Scientific Surveys

Get results 90% faster and cheaper, so you can do more surveys, whenever you want

Instant Public Input

Get fast and iterative feedback, from single agenda items to master plan updates

Transparency/Openness

Keep your public informed and involved with specialparticipatory modules that build trust and satisfaction

Performance Metrics

Automatically collect service satisfaction data that can be integrated into your performance dashboard

So What Can You Do With FlashVote?


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Before After

Now you can serve the many, not just the noisy


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[email protected]

Thank you!

Other Questions?

mailto:[email protected]

EXTRAS/OPTIONAL


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WHY DO WE SOMETIMES REQUIRE SUPERMAJORITIES?


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Voting ≠ Legitimacy


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Voting Can Safeguard Minorities


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• Sheep: “Sure. Since the policy has very different impact on wolves and sheep, approval will require a majority of wolves and a majority of sheep.”

Supermajority Is A Shortcut


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• Sheep: “Sure. Approval will require a 75% supermajority.”

Voting Can Safeguard Majorities

• Historically two-thirds approval required for tax increases in public sector

– Limits special interest influence (including government self-interest) over general taxpayers

• HOA and Corporate voting typically requires a majority of ALL eligible voters

– Prevents stuffing a small turnout


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OTHER CIVIC TECHNOLOGY:HOW MIGHT WE REPLACE POLITICANS

WITH SOFTWARE?


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Need Get Wisdom From A Crowd


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What Kind of Galaxy is This?


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Let’s Use Simpler Questions


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http://www.galaxyzoo.org

http://www.galaxyzoo.org/

Matched to Expertise


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http://www.galaxyzoo.org

http://www.galaxyzoo.org/

Let’s Do Sequences To Improve


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• Go from A vs B now to B1 vs B2 and so on

OTHER CIVIC TECHNOLOGY:HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY GERNALLY

IMPROVE GOVERNMENTS?


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Basic Organizational Chart

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One Citizen

One “Agent”


Give Instructions

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“Do X”

One “Agent”


One Citizen

Get Reports

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“Did X”“Do X”

One “Agent”


One Citizen

Complete Communication Loop

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One “Agent”


One Citizen

Government Organizational Chart

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Thousands of Citizens

Government Staff



Expanded Organizational Chart

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5+ Board

Government Staff




Expanded Communications

160


Government Staff

5+ Board



161



Government Staff

5+ Board



162



Government Staff

5+ Board



163



Government Staff

5+ Board



164



Government Staff

5+ Board



165



Government Staff

5+ Board


Civic Technology Opportunities

166



Government Staff

5+ Board


GSG LABS: Future “Big City Tech” for All

• GovDoctor: Virtual ombudsman/advocate– Process citizen complaints and limit litigation risks

• GovCoaching: Decision support for officials– Algorithms and checklists for more productive

deliberation and analysis by officials in meetings

• GovTrainer: Online assessments and education– Intuitive civic training for public officials and citizens


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how “civic technologies” can create happy citizens and improve local government

Data & Analytics