POLLTIX is committed to addressing the core problem behind the spread of disinformation – polarization. To tackle this issue, the project has developed Crowd.Vote, an innovative form of public consultation that focuses on achieving consensus among participants.
This unique format allows public sector stakeholders to ask open-ended questions, while citizens have the opportunity to submit their own answers and evaluate responses provided by others. The highest -ranked ideas are not determined solely by the number of votes, but by the variety of demographic and political groups that support the proposals. This approach highlights areas of agreement between different demographic and political groups, fostering the identification of common ground and reducing the perceived polarization.
In the first three months of the project, the team successfully built, launched, and tested their minimum viable product. This tool was employed in various political, commercial, and educational contexts, analyzing over 1,000 citizen opinions to uncover common ground and reverse the trend of polarization on key issues. Throughout this period, the team focused on developing an effective methodology for calculating consensus. After careful consideration, they chose the Lower bound of the Wilson score confidence interval methodology, which offers the most efficient way to organize responses based on both positive and negative ratings.
In the remaining three months of the program, the team plans to implement these consensus-building public consultations in real-world case studies by partnering with select municipalities in Lithuania. This collaboration will provide valuable insight into the efficacy of the approach and further refine the methodology for wider application, ultimately enhancing the potential to combat polarization and foster consensus-building on key issues.
