How it works

Six steps of the civic process

Project North Star is neither a forum nor a petition site. It is infrastructure for turning public problems into verifiable, structured solutions. Every step is transparent, and every participant carries reputational accountability.

01 · Identification02 · Research03 · Debate04 · Drafting05 · Voting06 · Result
01
Identification

Someone raises a problem

Any member can propose a new problem. It goes through moderation, gets a category, a level (federal / state / local), and a short description. This is the entry point — not an opinion, but a fact that calls for discussion.

Access: all authenticated users. An editor checks for duplicates and refines the wording.

Submit a problem →
northstar.org / issues / submit
New problem
Title
Zoning near transit hubs in Arizona
Level
State
State
Arizona
Short description
Zoning restrictions near metro and bus hubs make it impossible to build housing where demand is highest.
Category
Housing · Urban planning
Submit for moderation
02
Research

The community gathers evidence

Laws, studies, statistics, and court decisions are attached to the problem. Each source goes through community evaluation. An AI assistant helps structure the legal context and find connections to other problems.

The "Laws & references" tab on the problem page. Annotations on the text of documents.

Example problem page →
northstar.org / issues / housing-affordability-arizona · Laws
Evidence and sources — 3 of 14
Law
Arizona SB 1117 — Transit-Oriented Development
2022
94%
relevance
Study
Furman Center: Zoning and Housing Costs
2023
88%
relevance
Statistics
AZ Housing Dept: Supply Gap Report
2024
91%
relevance
+ 11 more sources...
03
Debate

Positions take shape

Members don't just comment — they craft structured positions with arguments for and against. This is not a Twitter argument: each position is tied to evidence and reflects the real distribution of the community's views.

Reputation-weighted voting. Positions are sorted by support, not by date.

View positions →
northstar.org / issues / housing-affordability-arizona · Positions
Community positions · 8 total
For reform@mchen_civic
Allow multi-family housing within 800m of stations
67% support
Against the mandate@az_homeowners
Only voluntary incentives for developers, no state mandate
34% support
Alternative@dpark_policy
Move zoning to regional bodies, not municipalities
28% support
04
Drafting

A working group creates a draft

When a discussion accumulates enough participants and arguments, a working group is formed. It takes the best positions and turns them into a concrete proposal text with mechanisms, thresholds, and accountability.

The group is formed transparently: membership, roles, deadlines, and all documents are public.

Example working group →
northstar.org / proposals / inclusionary-zoning-az
Proposal draft · v3
Inclusionary zoning for affordable housing in Arizona
Under review
A mandatory requirement for developers to set aside 15–20% of units in new residential complexes for affordable housing (AMI ≤ 80%) in exchange for expedited permitting and tax incentives.
v1 — May 15v2 — May 18v3 — May 20 ✓
Working group: 5 members · Linked to problem: Housing affordability in Arizona
05
Voting

The community votes on the proposal

The finished proposal is put to a vote. Three options: support, reject, send back for revision. The weight of a vote depends on reputation and verification. The result is not a majority of clicks, but the weighted position of an active community.

You can see the quorum, the distribution of votes, and the version of the proposal that was voted on.

Voting demo →
northstar.org / proposals / inclusionary-zoning-az / vote
Community vote
47
Support
12
Reject
8
Revise
Support
70%
Reject
18%
Revise
12%
Quorum: 67 / 50 · Reputation weight applied · Proposal version: v3
06
Result

The outcome is recorded and verified

An adopted proposal gets a snapshot: the version of the text, the voting data, a timestamp, a verification hash. It can't be changed after the fact. The history of the process — from the first comment to the final vote — remains in an open audit trail.

A verified result can be checked independently. This is not a declaration — it is a provable fact.

Example of a verified result →
northstar.org / trust / verified-results / IZ-AZ-2024-001
Verified result
Inclusionary zoning for affordable housing in Arizona
Outcome
Adopted
Participants
67
Version
v3 · May 20
Quorum
✓ reached
sha256: a3f9c1d7e2b4...8f2c · 2024-05-21T14:32:00Z

Start now

This is not theory

The platform works. Pick a problem you care about and join the discussion.

Waitlist

Join at an early stage

The platform is being built. Leave your email to get a personal invite on launch day.

  • Invite on launch day
  • Progress updates
  • A voice in the product

We'll only email you about the launch. Unsubscribe anytime.