Mexico City is trialling a crowdsourced constitution

Mexico City citizens have been invited to contribute to and shape the city’s new constitution through the online Plataforma Constitución CDMX.

Crowdsourcing has been able to provide useful solutions to citywide problems, from monitoring pollution to flagging community problems that need addressing from the council. Using a variety of digital tools, including Change.org and the bespoke Plataforma Constitución CDMX, Mexico City’s nine million citizens have been invited to help create an official government constitution that reflects the city they live in and its aspirations for a better future.

On Plataforma Constitución CDMX, citizens are able to comment on the first draft of the pending document, contribute written proposals for public consideration, take surveys to shape future drafts and organize formally affiliated meetings. For those who are offline, kiosks linked to the platform are located throughout the city. A citizen’s petition must garner more than 10,000 signatures for it to be considered for inclusion.

Due to come into force in 2017, the experiment in digital democracy is not without critics, and there is no legally binding requirement for citizen initiatives to be considered for the final draft. The platform will remain open to contributions until September 2016.

Could on and offline crowdsourcing provide a democratic answer for other municipalities?