Aspen Policy Academy

DemDoc

Policy is most representative and effective when it has buy-in from the people. People buy in when they have their voices heard in the crafting of policy. However, based on the tools available, the actual crafting—the authorship—of policy documents has rarely been an exercise for more than one or two authors.

DemDoc is an online collaborative document creation tool, like Google Docs, but with votes of co-authors being the deciding factor as to whether each author’s edits are accepted or rejected. By allowing users to comment and vote on each suggested change, DemDoc embeds democratic values into creating policies. With each sentence crafted through a democratic process, organizations interested in equitable representation will better reflect the ideas of many.

Click right to visit the DemDoc website and watch an explainer video about how to use the software.

Browse Related Projects

Tech

A shot of a sloping hill covered in buildings and trees.

Data-Sharing to Increase Young Mothers’ Benefits Enrollment in Central California

By Anna Banchik, Renata Bartlett, Nolan Green, Dorin Horsfall, Lee Howard, and Kash Sridhar

Tech

An image of the pastel colored "Painted Ladies" Victorian building in San Francisco.

Supporting Medi-Cal Recipients by Screening for Employment Eligibility in San Francisco

By I-Chiang Chen, Melinda Bernardo Cuerda, Kate Fisher, Carolyn Rojsutivat, and Emanuel Schorsch

Tech

Image of a pink apartment building in San Francisco.

Digitizing the JobsNOW! Intake Process for Medi-Cal Clients in San Francisco

By Susie Forbath, Tim Lillis, Cedar Louis, Jud Neer, and Anthony Vasquez