User:ThomasvonderElbe GmxDe/G/p/de
|
Ich, als technischer Halb-Laie, versuch mal eine Übersetzung von Mike's Version:
Der Difference-Engine ist ein Werkzeug zum Vergleichen von Texten, spezialisiert auf e-Democracy.1
Die Funktion des Difference-Engines soll bestehen (a) im Aufdecken der Unterschiede zwischen formalen Positionen von Wählern und ihren Kandidaten;
und (b) im Ausgeben präziser, stabiler Referenz-URLs zum Einbetten in Diskussionen.
Da die Unterschiede zwischen Positionen die einzige Basis einer rationalen Diskussionen sind, folgt, dass die Implementierung des Difference-Engines zentral für die Architektur der e-Democracy ist.
Ausserdem dient er dem strukturellen Zweck, (c) die getrennten Werkzeuge von Abstimmen, Verfassen und Diskutieren zu verbinden und (d) Entwicklungs-Projekte und technischen Domains zu verbinden, die anderenfalls unverbunden und unkoordiniert wären.
Offene Netzwerk-Architektur
Unten wird ein Ausschnitt der offenen Netzwerk-Architektur gezeigt, wie er für e-Democracy vorgeschlagen wird, aus der Perspektive des Difference-Engines. Der Difference-Engine ist zentral für die Integration der Kern-Werkzeuge des Abstimmens, Verfassens und Diskutierens. (Periphere Werkzeuge werden nicht mit dargestellt.)
Formal positions
A formal position is a document associated with a particular user in the context of a poll. The document is typically under revision control, as in a wiki. Formal positions can cover all types of poll, both normative and electoral. Where the issue is a social norm, the position document will define a proposed law, plan or policy.
Where the issue is electoral, the position document will define a proposed power structure, including specific appointments and responsiblities. Ordinarilly, the position will define only a part of the overall power structure. Thus the position of an end-candidate in a mayoral poll will include appointments for the chief of police, comptroller, and so on; while the position of the appointed chief of police will include the appointments of captains, and so forth. It might or might not repeat (perhaps with differences) the top level appointments of the mayor. The definition of the power structure is thus spread out among the candidates, delegates and voters, with varying degrees of overlap.2
A position may appoint the elect of other polls. Thus the position of an end-candidate in a prime ministerial poll may include cabinet and committee appointments that depend on the outcome of the general elections. In a first-past the post electoral system, the appointees might be designated by their electoral district, instead of by personal name. So a candidate for prime minister may appoint the elect of Trinity-Spadina as foreign minister. The current results of the primary poll for member of parliament in Trinity-Spadina (P/tsmp) could be consulted to yield that person's name. Her position could then be consulted to yield the sub-appointements. And so on. Multiple polls would simultaneously decide the power structure at issue. 3
Difference functions
The difference bridge provides the following functions. These are typically implemented as Web views, referenced by URL.
List voter differences
list voter differences (poll, candidate)
The difference bridge can summarize the differences between a candidate and her immediate voters. For each voter, it provides a list of all differences between the voter's position and the candidate's. Each item is a link to the full view (show difference).
For each difference, the user can see which other voters have the same difference. This is intended to help in deciding whether or not to merge the difference, from voter to candidate.
Show difference
show difference (poll, user1, rev1, user2, rev2, diff)
The difference bridge can show the differences between any two postition-revisions. Each view is requested by a parametized URL. If the drafting medium (or media) are under revision control, then the URL is stable (always returning the same view) and is therefore suitable for embedding in archival discussions.
The URL can also target a particular difference within the overall view. For each particular difference, the engine provides a list of all discussion messages that refer to that difference. The reverse links for this are provided by Google Wave robots, each specialized for a particular discussion medium.
Notes and references
- ^ The need for a differencing facility was first discussed in the Votorola mailing list (Seeing the differences among position drafts). The initial design sketch followed from discussions between Michael Allan and Thomas von der Elbe, in October, 2009.
- ^ Where an electoral position consists of multiple nodes of appointment (such as the mayor's appointments plus the chief of police's) each node is separately comparable with another of the same type, in a separate position document. Whole electoral postions are not comparable with each other, only their nodes. The parameter for specifying the node type of the comparison has yet to be defined for the engine functions.
- ^ It is unclear how such cross-poll positions could be specified in a proportional electoral system, where there are no district names as placeholders.
