---
title: Philosophy
contributors:
  - Charlie
---

This is DOD's open space for discussing democracy, governance, and accountability — any idea, from any DOD member, including the repeated, unpopular, or half-formed ones.

It used to host DOD's full accountability framework instead. That document didn't go anywhere — it moved to the [Accountability Framework](../projects/accountability-framework/index.md) project, and its sourcing discipline wasn't loosened in the move. See [why it moved](../blog/posts/2026-06-26-philosophy-section-redesign.md) for the full story.

## What belongs here

Ideas about democracy, governance, and accountability — from any DOD member, in any form. Including:

- Ideas you've raised before that didn't get traction
- Ideas you suspect are unpopular with the rest of DOD
- Half-formed questions you don't have an answer to
- Disagreement with the [Accountability Framework](../projects/accountability-framework/index.md) itself

Nothing here needs a citation to be worth saying. Sourcing discipline is the [Accountability Framework](../projects/accountability-framework/index.md)'s job, and the [Concepts](../concepts/index.md) section's. This page is for the conversation that happens *before* an idea is sourced, polished, or settled — including the version of it that never gets there.

## Questions we want to put to real people

Before this page becomes any kind of curated record of what DOD members think, we want to actually ask people — online, and ideally at an in-person event. The questions below are a first draft, untested on a real audience. They're here so the asking can start, not because they're finished.

1. Think of a group, workplace, or community you're part of. When something about it needs to change, who actually has the power to change it — and how would you know if that power were listening to you, versus just appearing to?
2. Have you ever taken part in a "consultation" — a survey, town hall, feedback form — that you suspect changed nothing? What told you that?
3. Is there a rule or decision shaping your life, made by people you never get to vote for or push back on? Who are they, and what, if anything, could you actually do about it?
4. What's an idea about how groups should make decisions that you believe, but rarely say out loud because you expect people to dismiss it?
5. Where have you seen a system change because people pushed on it — and where have you seen the same kind of pushing get nowhere? What was different between the two?
6. Should people affected by a decision always get a say in it, even if they're outside the country or organisation making it? Where would you draw that line, and why there?
7. Is "democracy" the right word for the kind of decision-making you'd actually want to live under — or is there a better one?
8. Has a personal experience ever changed your mind about which systems of governance deserve trust? What happened?
9. If you could rewrite one rule about how your workplace, council, or community group makes decisions, what would you change — and why hasn't it already changed?
10. What does "good faith" look like to you, in a person or an institution? How do you tell it apart from a good performance of it?
11. DOD works from a premise that's rarely said out loud: that there's nothing new under the sun in democracy reform — that most ideas being tried today have already been tried somewhere, and the people building the next version are often unaware the lesson already exists. Does that match what you've seen? And if it's true, is an org whose job is just *paying attention across the whole space* — rather than pushing any one reform — actually useful, or is that a comfortable way to avoid taking a position?

*If you're reading this and have thoughts on these questions themselves — too academic, missing something, badly worded — that's exactly the kind of feedback this page exists for.*

## How to take part

- Raise it in DOD's [Telegram channel](https://t.me/joinchat/HNk_UBX8A7jBPJPbAZU5Zg)
- Bring it to a [meetup or event](../about.md) — recordings end up on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqIo0VC_zHyPjzNKIafGJpg/featured) and the [podcast](../about.md)
- Open a discussion on [GitHub](https://github.com/DesigningOpenDemocracy/DesigningOpenDemocracy.github.io) if you want a written record
- See the [Community](../community/community.md) page for other ways to get involved

*This page does not yet reflect a curated body of community discussion — that's the point. Once real responses come in, from an event or otherwise, they belong here.*
