LiquidFeedback

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LiquidFeedback is an open-source software,
powering internet platforms for
proposition development and decision making

LiquidFeedback is an independent open source project. The software is published under MIT license by the Public Software Group of Berlin, Germany. The developers of LiquidFeedback have teamed up in the Association for Interactive Democracy to promote the use of electronic media for democratic processes.

LiquidFeedback - The Democracy Software

Liquid Democracy

Scalability through division of labor

The basic idea is a democratic system in which most issues are decided (or strongly suggested to representatives) by direct referendum. Considering nobody has enough time and knowledge for every issue, votes can be dynamically delegated by topic. Delegations are transitive and can be revoked at any time. Liquid Democracy is sometimes referred to as »Delegated« or »Proxy Voting«.

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Collective Moderation

Proportional representation of minorities

LiquidFeedback doesn't rely on a request commission and doesn't need a moderator. Instead, all participants gain equal rights in a scalable structured dicussion process where it is ensured that minorities gain a fair share of representation and that even individuals may put up their proposals for discussion. The system is designed in such way that noisy minorities won't harm other minorities in the discussion process.

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Fully Transparent Decision Process

Protection against non-transparent lobbying

Predefined rules and timings ensure that plans on decision processes are made public in time. Decisions are made by recorded vote only, and all voting-relevant data in LiquidFeedback is made available to all participants in both human– and machine–readable form. This enables a transparent decision-making process and ensures that participants can verify the voting procedure.

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Preferential Voting

Equal treatment of competing alternatives

LiquidFeedback doesn't ask predefined questions but encourages participants to suggest alternatives. A sophisticated voting system is facilitated to allow participants to express their opinions without necessity of tactical considerations. Its mathematical properties avoid vote–splitting and allow that similar proposals don't harm each other.

LiquidFeedback is Open Source

Free of License Fees

Pay for service,
don't pay for software

The LiquidFeedback software may be obtained free of charge, and there are no royalties. Budget can be used for services instead of buying software.

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No Vendor Lock-in

Free software for free democracy

It is possible to install, maintain, and modify the software with the help of any skilled computer specialist or company. The inventors of LiquidFeedback offer their services for consulting, hosting, and training.

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Source Code Access

Available to anyone

The source code is freely available and can be downloaded from the website of the Public Software Group e.V., which is publishing the software.

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No Copyleft

Prevent license incompatibilities

The Public Software Group's liberal licensing model avoids license incompatibilities when merging the software with other software components. LiquidFeedback and it's dependencies are based on MIT– and BSD–licensed components.