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Principled Societies Project

Facilitating Societal Cognition

Glossary and Abbreviations

For more information on terms, abbreviations, concepts, and vision, see our books, papers, articles, and media page.

Collaborative Governance System (CGS)

The collaborative direct democracy system by which members govern their LEDDA.

Contributions

In a LEDDA, the total amount, in tokens and dollars (T&D), that member persons annually transfer to the CBFS. All member persons make contributions to the CBFS according to CBFS earmarks.

Crowd-Based Financial System (CBFS)

In a LEDDA, the CBFS provides support to member persons and member organizations. Its five arms are: subsidies to standard business and Principled Business, grants to nonprofits, interest-free loans, and nurture support (support for unemployed and NIWF members).

Earmarks

In a LEDDA, the percentages of gross income that member persons contribute to the CBFS. There is one earmark for each CBFS arm.

Growth period

The period of time, starting at inception of a LEDDA (Year 0), during which the target income is rising. Depending on conditions and choices, this might be about 10-20 years.

Income target

In a LEDDA, the pre-tax, post-CBFS (post-contribution) target income in T&D that a member can choose to accept. The income target is a series of annual non-decreasing family income values, starting near initial (Year 0) wage conditions. During the growth period the income target is rising. The income target referred to in the steady-state model is the last in this series.

Local Economic Direct Democracy Association (LEDDA)

A system of economic democracy intended for local (e.g., community, city, or county) implementation. It functions as a local layer of organization on top of an existing national economic system.

Nonprofit organization (NP)

Nonprofit organizations can include schools, government agencies, charities, civil society groups, hospitals, research organizations and other types of not-for-profit organizations. In the United States, these are tax-exempt organizations.

Not in workforce (NIWF)

An adult is NIWF if he or she is not employed and not looking for work. NIWF persons can include students and those who choose to stay home to care for children or elderly parents, or are themselves elderly or disabled. In the US and Europe, roughly 35% of the population is NIWF.

Optimality

As applied to social choice systems, a measure of the relative ability of a social choice system to help groups focus on and solve problems that matter. Relative optimality has two components. The proximal component is problem-solving capacity. The distal component is the degree of collective wellbeing that stems from problem-solving activity.

Organization

In a LEDDA, the three primary types of member and nonmember organizations are standard businesses (SB), Principled Businesses (PB), and nonprofits (NP). All member organizations pay wages partly in tokens. A nonmember organization cannot be a Principled Business and cannot accept tokens as revenue.

Organization revenue partition

In a LEDDA, the percentages of total revenue that organizations receive from different sources (CBFS funding vs. person spending in the marketplace).

Post-growth period

The period of time after the growth period when the target income is steady, but the LEDDA is still growing. It has not yet established a steady-state. In an idealized TES, steady-state conditions might occur perhaps 10-20 years into the post-growth period.

Principled Business (PB)

A Principled Business is a type of socially responsible business unique to the LEDDA framework. Among other characteristics, it is highly transparent and pays wages that are in keeping with income targets (not lower than the current-year target and not higher than the final target).

Social choice systems

Also known as decision-making or problem-solving systems. These are the components of the general problem-solving process (see Figure 1 on homepage) that are amenable to design. Such components can include software and computational tools, information infrastructure, programs, procedures, and rules. Most important, they include the conceptual models and world views on which a social choice system is based. For a community or society, primary social choice systems include economic/financial/monetary systems; governance/political systems; and legal/justice systems, broadly defined. Economic, governance, and legal systems, for short.

Standard Business (SB)

In a LEDDA, a standard business is a for-profit organization that is not a Principled Business.

Token

The local, transparent, electronic currency unique to a LEDDA. It circulates locally in parallel with a national currency.

Token Exchange System (TES)

The bi-currency circulation system that is a component of LEDDA economic democracy. It consists of the integrated TMS, CBFS, and market system, which impact the circulation of the token and national currency.

Token Monetary System (TMS)

The system by which a LEDDA creates and destroys tokens as required to regulate token volume and value.

Token share of income (TSI)

In a LEDDA, the percent of wages that member employers pay member employees in tokens. The remainder is paid in the national currency.

Tokens and dollars (T&D)

In a LEDDA, the sum of tokens plus dollars, where either or both can be zero.

Wage option choice

In a LEDDA, in any given year, a member that is employed by a member organization can choose to accept a wage at the income target (option 1) or at a higher wage, if a higher wage is offered (option 2). If the higher wage is offered and accepted, the member also receives a modest incentive bonus paid in tokens. The purpose of the bonus is to ensure that every member family, no matter what their income, obtains an income gain over starting conditions by joining a LEDDA.

Wellbeing, or collective wellbeing

The current and anticipated degree to which individuals, natural environments, and ecosystems collectively flourish. A high degree of wellbeing implies vibrancy, resilience, sustainability, diversity, creativity, and health. Wellbeing levels can be monitored, indexed, and modeled.

Wellbeing centrality

A multidisciplinary R&D program that spans the design, testing, promotion, and operation of social choice systems that place wellbeing measurement, evaluation, forecasting, and deliberation at the center of decision-making activities. The term is also intended to serve as a keyword for indexing diverse scientific, civil society, political, business, and artistic efforts related to social choice system optimality.

Workforce partition

In a LEDDA, the percentages of the workforce that are employed by SB, PB, and NP organizations.


References

1. Boik JC. Economic Direct Democracy: A Framework to End Poverty and Maximize Well-Being. PrincipledSocietiesProject.com; 2014. link

2. Boik JC. First Micro-Simulation Model of a LEDDA Community Currency-Dollar Economy. International Journal of Community Currency Research; 2014. link

3. Boik JC. Optimality of Social Choice Systems: Complexity, Wisdom, and Wellbeing Centrality RePEc Working Paper; 2016. link