Some of you might remember a few times back in August and September when I noted that I was working on a major project and thus would be making shorter posts in this space for a while. The project in question was my submission to the Constitution of Consent Contest. Mine was one of 42 submissions from around the world.
The results were announced yesterday, and I am happy and grateful to report that I earned third place.
The assignment was a curious task. In essence, it was to create a constitution that enshrines consent rather than imposing control.
A constitution without ex ante enforcement mechanisms? Without using the initiation of force to implement its provisions?
Yes.
Most of you know well my views on involuntary governance. This project was right up my alley, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate.
A huge thank you to the judges, the donors, and all who conceived of this contest and brought it into existence. Congratulations to first place winners Vibhu Vikramaditya and Alexander Voss, second place winner Luis Rayas, and all the other contestants. Thank you to Max Borders for introducing me to this wondrous opportunity, and for being such an amazing sherpa for the project.
This contest is only the beginning. Click below for a full account of the contest results, and a hint of things to come. We cannot know it now, but history might just look back at this as a pivot-point—one of those moments when everything changes.
I submitted an entry to this. I would have liked to see all the entries published so that we could all look at them. I liked mine, even though it has little to do with "involuntary governance.," which I have never studied.
Chris, could you post your complete constitution entry somewhere online? I really can't tell anything about it from the gloss in the prize announcement. Your effort should be the basis of "open source" elaboration, not squirreled away and forgotten.
My own complete entry is here: http://terryhulsey.com/TLH.pdf