National sovereignty belongs to the people

Article 3, French Constitution of 1958.

Our conviction

Democracy, in its simplest principle, rests on three pillars: every citizen has a voice, every voice carries equal weight, and citizens decide their common future together. Yet between two elections, these three pillars vanish.

Between two elections, these three pillars vanish. No one can verify how many citizens support a cause. No one distinguishes the committed activist from the distant sympathiser. And above all, no one knows what citizens, beyond their disagreements, could actually agree on.

Democratia builds the missing infrastructure: a tool that lets citizens count themselves, show their real commitment, and find their points of agreement - without waiting for anyone's permission.

The democratic problem

Nobody knows how many you are

On 7 March 2023, in Marseille: the prefecture announces 30,000 protesters. The unions claim 245,000. Eight times more. Who is telling the truth? Nobody can verify.

This is not an exception. It is the rule. Every protest produces two numbers, sometimes tenfold apart, and neither is verifiable. The result: citizens go unheard, even when they mobilise massively.

Imagine a polling station where nobody counts the ballots. Each party claims victory. The figures vary tenfold. That is exactly what happens today for every civic mobilisation between two elections.

Nobody measures your commitment

Signing a petition from your sofa and blocking a road for six hours are not the same political message. Yet today, everything counts the same: one online signature = one person in the street = 1.

This confusion weakens democracy. A government can ignore 500,000 sympathisers. It cannot ignore 100,000 citizens ready to stop working. But as long as we do not distinguish the two, the political signal remains blurry.

It is like mixing blank ballots, spoiled ballots and valid votes in the same pile at a polling station. Technically, you can still count them. But you lose all the nuance of the political message.

Nobody knows what you agree on

A social movement always brings together people with different motivations. Some want higher wages. Others want better working conditions. Others still want a minister to resign.

The media simplify: "they are protesting against the reform." But what do they actually agree on? What concrete solutions would reach consensus? Nobody knows. And this ignorance prevents any effective collective action.

Imagine an election where you could only vote "for" or "against" a single block of a hundred different proposals. Impossible to know which ones reach consensus, which ones divide. The count reveals only a global score, unusable.

The solution in 3 tools

Pop: The tool for counting

How many are we? A verifiable, anonymous, independent counter. Like a polling station open permanently.

Pulse: The tool for measuring the intensity of an idea

How committed are we? Five levels to measure the reality of mobilisation.

Agora: The tool for deliberation

What do we agree on? Finding cross-partisan consensus, beyond disagreements.

Pop: The tool for counting

The problem

On 7 March 2023, in Marseille, the police announce 30,000 protesters. The unions claim 245,000. Ratio: x8. Nobody knows who is right. This is not an exception - it is the rule. Every protest produces two figures, each contested, each unverifiable.

But the problem goes beyond the streets. Between two elections, citizens have no reliable way to make themselves heard collectively. Petitions are promises without verifiable signatures. Social networks distort engagement through algorithms. The streets produce figures nobody trusts. No tool can answer the simplest question in democracy: how many are we?

The solution

Citizens count themselves. One person, counted once, verified and anonymous. The counter is public, auditable, independent from governments and organisers alike.

How it works

The principle is that of a polling station: we verify that you are a real person, then we cross you off the list. You count. Once, and once only.

In Democratia, you send a code by SMS from your phone. That is the verification - the equivalent of a voter card. But unlike a polling station, we do not need to know your identity. Your number is instantly transformed into a mathematical fingerprint impossible to reverse, then destroyed. The system knows you are a unique person. It never knows who you are. Only your city and country are collected - to place the mobilisation on a map, never to identify you.

You can then count yourself on any cause. Each cause displays a public counter: "147,382 citizens counted."

Behind the scenes: the phone number serves as a uniqueness anchor. One number, one verification code, one vote. The number is never stored - only the anonymous fingerprint persists.

The difference with a petition

An online petition is a polling station where nobody checks your identity at the entrance, where you can come back ten times, and where the organisers keep your name linked to your signature.

Democratia is a real polling station: verification at the entrance, guaranteed anonymity, one count per person.

Pulse: The tool for measuring the intensity of an idea

The problem

On 15 January 2024, farmers block the motorways. The next day's poll: "82% of French people support the movement." But what does "support" mean? Someone who liked a post between two meetings and someone ready to go block a roundabout count the same. A vaguely sympathetic retiree weighs as much as a farmer on the brink of bankruptcy.

That is the problem with any binary measure: yes or no, for or against. It crushes reality. A million people "rather in agreement" and ten thousand ready to sacrifice everything produce the same figure. Polls measure opinions. Nobody measures commitments.

Result: decision-makers never know how real a mobilisation is. They discover the intensity when it explodes - in the streets, at the ballot box, in anger.

The solution

Citizens do not just say "I am for". They say how much. Five levels of commitment, from simple agreement to concrete action. We count, we measure.

How it works

The principle is that of the Richter scale: a magnitude 2 earthquake and a magnitude 7 earthquake are not the same reality. Saying "the earth shook" is not enough - what matters is the intensity.

In Democratia, after counting yourself on a cause, you choose your level of commitment from five clear tiers:

I support - I agree with this cause.
I get involved - I am ready to give time or resources.
I commit - I actively participate, I talk about it around me.
I mobilise - I am ready to protest, to act collectively.
I resist - This cause justifies civil disobedience for me.

Each cause then displays not a single figure, but a profile: "147,382 citizens counted. Of which 34,000 ready to mobilise." A decision-maker who sees 200,000 supporters at level 1 - that is a signal. 200,000 at level 4 - that is a warning.

Technically: your commitment level is linked to your anonymous fingerprint, never to your identity. You can change it at any time. The aggregation is public, individual data is invisible.

The difference with a poll

A poll is a paper brandished by someone else, on a sample of a thousand people chosen by an institute, with questions formulated by a client, published when it suits them.

Democratia is a thermometer that each citizen holds themselves: voluntary commitment, explicit scale, open data, continuous measurement.

Agora: The tool for deliberation

The problem

In 2019, the Grand Débat National produced two million contributions. Months of work, thousands of local meetings, citizens taking time to write, argue, propose. Result: a summary report written by the government itself, which extracted what it wanted. Nobody could verify whether the conclusions reflected what had been said.

That is the problem with any citizen consultation: whoever asks the question controls the answer. The questions are closed, biased, binary. "Are you in favour of X?" But X is a block. You agree with the principle, not the method. You want an alternative that nobody has put on the table. Your nuance does not exist in the form.

Result: the public debate oscillates between two caricatures. On one side, polls that reduce everything to for or against. On the other, social networks where the most extreme positions drown out everything else. In between, the vast majority who could agree on many things has no space to discover it.

The solution

Citizens do not vote for or against. They build together the proposals on which they converge. The tool does not seek a winner - it seeks consensus. What unites the greatest number, beyond divisions.

How it works

The principle is that of a deliberative assembly: we do not decide, we seek what achieves agreement.

In Democratia, any citizen can open a deliberation on an active cause. They do not ask a closed question - they open a space. Participants propose positions, reformulate them, amend them. Each person can express their degree of agreement on each proposal: agree, rather agree, neutral, rather against, against.

The algorithm does not seek the majority. It identifies the proposals that generate the least rejection - those that the greatest number can accept, even without enthusiasm. Consensus points emerge from the bottom, not from the top.

Concretely, a deliberation on pension reform does not ask "for or against raising the retirement age to 64." It reveals that 73% of participants, from left and right alike, converge on "indexing the retirement age to the difficulty of the profession." A common ground that nobody had formulated, because nobody had the tool to find it.

Technically: the consensus algorithm is inspired by majority judgment and approval voting methods. Each proposal is evaluated independently from the others. Results are public, the process is auditable, and no entity - neither Democratia, nor a government, nor a party - controls the synthesis.

The difference with a consultation

A citizen consultation is a microphone held out by those in power, who choose the questions, filter the answers and write the summary alone. You speak, someone else decides what you said.

Democratia is a roundtable where each participant sets their own terms, where consensus is calculated mathematically, and where nobody holds the pen of the conclusion.

Our democratic commitments

You will remain anonymous - as in the voting booth

In a physical polling station:

Your identity is checked at the entrance
You enter the booth alone
You slip your ballot in without anyone seeing
The ballot box mixes all the ballots
Impossible to know who voted what

With Democratia (full system):

Your uniqueness will be verified (one person = one participation)
Your number will be instantly transformed into an anonymous code
Your participation will be recorded without any link to your identity
The counters will display totals, never names
Impossible to know who counted for what

Even if a judge orders the seizure of all our servers, they will find only mathematical fingerprints impossible to reverse. It is like seizing a ballot box after the count: the ballots are already counted and mixed. Impossible to know who voted what.

You will vote only once - as in a polling station

In a physical polling station:

Your name is on the electoral roll
It is checked off when you vote
If you come back, they see you have already voted
Impossible to vote twice

With Democratia:

Your phone number will be your uniqueness anchor
It will be transformed into a unique mathematical fingerprint
If you try to register again, the system will detect the existing fingerprint
Impossible to participate twice

The difference with online petitions: with ten different email addresses, you can sign ten times. With Democratia, one phone = one account. Full stop.

Results will be public - as in a ballot count

In a physical polling station:

After the vote, results are posted on the town hall door
Anyone can come and read them
Citizens can attend the ballot count
Everything is transparent

With Democratia:

Every counter will be public in real time
Anyone can consult the results without voting
The source code will be open: any expert can verify the count is honest
Every counter will display its reliability level: "487,000 verified citizens. 23 suspicious accounts excluded. Confidence level: 99.2%."

It is exactly like a polling station where several scrutineers watch the count: transparency guarantees honesty.

You will depend on no one - as voting is a right

Voting is a constitutional right. Nobody can take it from you. You do not need permission from a private company or a political party to vote.

With Democratia, same principle:

No login via Google, Apple or Facebook
No national ID card
No facial recognition
Just your phone and your fingerprint (or your code)

If a private company or government tries to block access, they will not be able to. Democratia will be accessible from any web browser. Like a polling station: impossible to shut down, even under pressure.

All causes will be equal - as all votes count the same

In a polling station, all ballots carry the same weight. The vote of the President of the Republic counts as much as that of any citizen. Nobody sorts the ballots by importance.

With Democratia, same principle:

All causes can be counted
No cause will be promoted or censored
If you are against a cause, you can create the opposite one
The system will display both counters without judgment

This is the fundamental principle of universal suffrage: one voice = one voice, whatever your opinion.

What we will never do

We will never decide which cause counts

A polling station does not sort ballots according to whether they please the government or not. All ballots are counted. Democratia, likewise.

If we start saying "this cause deserves to be counted, but not that one," we become a political actor like any other. Our only mission: provide the tool. The citizens decide the content.

We will never force anyone to identify themselves

In the voting booth, you are alone. Nobody looks over your shoulder. Democratia, likewise.

Your participation will always remain anonymous. We will verify that you are a unique person, but we will never know who you are. Verification at the entrance. Anonymity in the booth. Secrecy of the ballot box.

Why now?

The paper ballot is 200 years old

The secret paper ballot has existed since 1856 in France. For 170 years, it was the only democratic technology available. It works remarkably well for elections. But it has one limit: it can only be held a few times a year, on predefined questions.

Between two elections, nothing. It is like being able to use the telephone only twice a year, on fixed dates. Absurd.

The 2005 referendum

On 29 May 2005, 54.68% of the French voted against the European constitutional treaty. Public count. Indisputable result. Clear message.

Three years later, in 2008, the same treaty passed through parliament. No new vote. No consultation.

Between those two dates: silence. The citizens who voted "no" had no way to maintain their political expression. No tool. No counter. No visibility. No open polling station.

The trust gap

According to studies, only 30% of the French trust political institutions. This figure has been declining for forty years. The reason is simple: between two elections, citizens cannot make themselves heard in a verifiable manner.

Imagine the polling station open only once every five years, for eight hours, on a Sunday. The rest of the time: closed. That is where we stand.

The technology exists

Everything we need already exists. The cryptographic encryption that protects your bank can protect the anonymity of the vote. The deliberation methods that worked in Taiwan can work in France. The phones we all carry can verify uniqueness like an electoral roll verifies registration.

The physical polling station works thanks to material guarantees: the booth, the ballot box, the paper. Democratia will work thanks to mathematical guarantees: encryption, cryptographic fingerprinting, code transparency.

Only one thing is missing: building the tool and putting it in the hands of citizens.

The code will be public

The code will be open - like a public ballot count

In a physical polling station

Any citizen can be a scrutineer
The count takes place in public
Several people count the same ballots
Transparency guarantees honesty

With Democratia, same principle

The source code will be published in full as open source. Any developer, cryptographer or security expert will be able to:

Read every line of code
Verify the system does what it claims to do
Audit the encryption and anonymisation mechanisms
Propose improvements
Report potential vulnerabilities

A democratic system that hides how it works is not democratic. Open source is not a technical option - it is a fundamental principle. Just as the transparent ballot box replaced the opaque one, open code replaces the digital "black box".

Everything will be verifiable. Everything will be auditable. By everyone.

Business model

Transparent and fair funding

Everything has a cost

Democratia will be a non-profit association. But democratic infrastructure has real costs:

Servers hosted in Europe
Sending verification codes (SMS, email)
Code development and maintenance
Regular security audits
Protection against attacks

We refuse two models: advertising (which turns citizens into a product) and personal data sales (we do not collect any).

Three sources of funding

1. Citizen donations

Like Wikipedia, Democratia will run on voluntary contributions. If 100,000 citizens give 2 euros per year, the infrastructure holds. Total transparency: every euro received and spent will be published.

2. Data access for media and institutions

Results will be public and freely consultable on democratia.io. Everyone can see the counters, distributions, and consensus.

However: if a media outlet, polling institute, researcher or organisation wants to access the full raw data to analyse, republish or integrate it into their own tools, that access will be paid.

Example: Le Monde wants to publish the results of a mobilisation with its own graphics. Democratia provides the data access API via an annual subscription. The ordinary citizen consults the same data for free on the site.

3. Public grants and foundations (under strict conditions)

We will accept public funding or foundation grants under three conditions:

No editorial influence (we do not choose which causes to count)
Systematic publication of all funding received on democratia.io
Plurality of sources (no single dependency)

A billionaire will never buy Democratia. Just as nobody can buy a polling station or a town hall, nobody can buy a civic association. No shareholders, no shares, no capital to sell. The infrastructure belongs to the citizens, by legal construction.

Development: open source AND permanent team

The code will be open source and all external contributions will be welcome. But critical democratic infrastructure cannot rely solely on volunteering.

Democratia will employ a small permanent technical team to:

Guarantee continuous maintenance (security, updates, fixes)
Ensure 24/7 availability (mobilisations do not wait)
Coordinate open source contributions
Respond to security audits
Document the code for transparency

What we will never do

Sell priority access to results (everything is public at the same time for everyone)
Create "premium accounts" with more voting rights (one person = one voice, full stop)
Accept funding conditioned on a political orientation
Monetise citizens' attention through advertising

Fundamental principle: Citizens fund the tool that belongs to them. Media and institutions that monetise citizen information contribute to the cost of that information. Everything is transparent. Everything is verifiable. All funding received will be published on democratia.io.

Stay informed

Democratia is being built in public. If you want to follow the progress, be notified of launches, or simply see where this leads - leave us your email.

No commercial content. Few emails, only for major milestones. No spam.

Have questions, expertise to offer, or want to learn more? Write to us directly at contact[at]democratia.io .

National sovereignty belongs to the people. - Article 3, French Constitution of 1958.