NOTE: this is just the first draft, and your input is invaluable! Join the conversation at the discussions page to share your thoughts and help shape the project!

Our mission is to collaboratively maintain a community-run set of libraries based on Polis, ensuring its growth and adaptability for diverse use cases worldwide.

Polis is a powerful tool for enabling collaborative decision-making and participatory governance. Learn more at pol.is.

While we deeply appreciate the incredible work of Compdemocracy on Polis, we believe the project has outgrown the capacity of a single organization. With its adoption by multiple organizations and countries—each maintaining and evolving their own forks (e.g., Finland's Sitra, a Dutch intiative, see awesome-polis for more)—there is a clear need for a collaborative, community-driven codebase.

Our vision is to establish a shared, modular, and inclusive foundation for Polis development, unbound by the constraints of any single entity. This approach will better support external contributions and the varied use cases of a growing global community.

Our guiding principles:

• Plurality over uniformity: Welcome diverse visions and use cases rather than enforcing a one-size-fits-all approach.
• Open contribution: Encourage contributions from anyone, anywhere.
• Modular architecture: Transform Polis into a set of flexible, highly customizable, and interoperable software components.
• Collaborative relationship: Contribute improvements back to Compdemocracy's Polis wherever possible.
• Unified growth: Incorporate sensible changes from both Compdemocracy's updates and existing community forks.
• Library-first design: Prioritize making Polis a collection of libraries rather than a monolithic product.

(Subject to evolution as the community grows and learns.)

1. Decouple the Polis algorithm from data storage: Allow greater flexibility in where and how data is stored.
2. Support diverse frontend visualizations: Enable multiple frontend experiences via a single API.
3. Adaptable authentication: Provide options to customize or disable authentication mechanisms.

• Imposing a single vision: Avoid enforcing one perspective or limiting innovation.
• Replacing Compdemocracy's efforts: Build alongside Compdemocracy's innovations, not against them.

This is just the first draft, and your input is invaluable! Join the conversation at our discussions page to share your thoughts and help shape the project!