Documents

Documents in Negotiated Texts

The output of most negotiations is a document or set of documents. In the course of producing these, many interim drafts will be created. Documents and drafts that are created and amended during the negotiations process are, themselves, drafts of the final text that the negotiations process will eventually create.

In a formal process of debate, almost all proposals are written down in some form. The Quill Platform provides a kind of 'track changes for historians' that allows you to explore exactly what was being discussed at any moment.

What can I do with Quill?

On the Quill Platform, documents can be:

  • Document createdCreated / Introduced for discussion
  • Document amended Have amendments proposed
  • Document copied Passed from one committee to another

Members of negotiations can:

  • Create a new document proposal Introduce new text for discussion
  • Debate a document proposal Debate a specific proposal
  • Vote on a document proposal Make a decision on a particular proposal

They can also decide to:

  • Adopt a proposal Adopt a proposal
  • Reject a proposal Reject a proposal
  • Refer a proposal Refer a proposal to another committee for discussion
  • Postpone debate Postpone a decision on a proposal

We also note within the model when they:

  • Other vote Take a vote on a proposal that neither means it is adopted nor rejected -- typically having the effect of keeping a proposal under discussion
  • Drop a proposal Drop a discussion of a subject without a formal vote

Exploring the Constitutional Convention through the Quill platform

The Quill platform provides a variety of tools to explore the documents of the Convention. For example: