About CitizenSenator

The internet's greatest deliberative body

Propose laws. Debate amendments. Vote on what matters. Make real change.

What is CitizenSenator?

CitizenSenator is a platform where citizens propose, debate, amend, and vote on real legislation. It is initially focused on US federal politics— proposals for laws that would originate in the US House of Representatives or US Senate.

Every proposal goes through a rigorous process modeled after real legislative procedure: open debate, community amendments with quorum requirements, alternative amendments, and a final binding vote. The goal is to surface the best ideas and demonstrate genuine public support for meaningful policy change.

How It Works

1

Propose

Any citizen can draft a proposal for a new law. Choose a subsection, write your proposal, select the chamber (US House or US Senate), and set a voting period (1–30 days). You can save as a draft or publish immediately.

2

Debate & Amend

Once published, the proposal enters Active Debate. The community discusses, proposes amendments, and votes on changes. Each amendment has its own countdown timer. Amendments that pass are merged into the proposal text automatically.

3

Final Vote

When the debate period ends and no active amendments remain, the proposal moves to a Final Votephase. Citizens cast a simple yes or no vote. A bare majority (>50%) is needed to pass.

4

Passed or Archived

If the proposal passes, it becomes a Passed Law on CitizenSenator. If it fails, it is archived — but anyone can resubmit it for another try. Proposals with ≥66.7% approval earn the “Filibuster Proof” badge.

The Amendment System

Amendments are core to CitizenSenator. They let the community refine a proposal before the final vote, just like the amendment process in a real legislature. Here are the rules:

Amendment Clocks

Each amendment gets its own independent countdown timer, matching the proposal's voting period by default. When an amendment's clock expires, it is evaluated: if it passes (>50% yes votes) and meets quorum, it is automatically merged into the proposal text. If any amendment merges and the proposal has less than 2 days remaining, the proposal clock is extended by 2 days. After a merge, all votes on the proposal reset so citizens can re-evaluate the amended version.

Quorum Requirement

An amendment must have at least half as many total votes (yes + no combined) as the proposal it amends has at the time the amendment expires. If an amendment does not meet this threshold, it is automatically dismissed as “No Quorum” regardless of its yes/no ratio. This prevents low-participation amendments from making changes without sufficient community input.

Amendment Freeze Period

No new amendments can be submitted when the proposal's clock enters its final voting window (less than 7 days remaining for proposals longer than 7 days, or the last half of shorter proposals). Existing amendments can still be voted on during this period. A clear “Amendment window closed” indicator is displayed on the proposal page. If an amendment merges and extends the clock by 2 days, the freeze does not reopen since the new time will still be within the freeze window.

Alternative Amendments

Any user can propose an alternativeto an existing amendment using the “Propose Alternative” button. Alternatives are tied to the original amendment and share the same expiration clock. When the clock expires, all alternatives in the group are evaluated together: only those that pass with >50% are considered, and the one with the most yes votes wins. All others in the group are discarded. If none pass, the entire group fails. Alternatives are displayed visually grouped together so users can compare them.

Duplicate Amendment Flagging

Any user can flag an active amendment as a duplicate of another active amendment on the same proposal. When flagging, you select which amendment it duplicates. If 2 different users flag the same pair, the flagged amendment is automatically converted into an alternative to the amendment it was matched with, inheriting its expiration clock. This only applies to active amendments — users may submit similar amendments after previous ones fail (intentional for iterative rewording).

Proposal Rules

Editing Rules

The original author can edit their proposal text directly only if there are zero votes and zero amendments on it. Once any vote is cast or any amendment is submitted, direct editing is locked permanently. After that point, the author must submit changes through the amendment system like everyone else.

Author Withdrawal

The original author can toggle an “Author No Longer Supports” flag on their own proposal, with a required comment explaining why. When toggled, a prominent banner is displayed on the proposal. However, the proposal remains fully active — voting and amendments continue regardless. The author can also restore their support at any time.

Failed Proposal Resubmission

There is no restriction on resubmitting a failed proposal. Anyone can copy and resubmit as many times as they want. Archived proposals have a “Resubmit This Proposal” button that pre-fills the create form with the original text. Low-engagement reposts will naturally sink in the rankings — proposals with more comments, amendments, and votes appear higher.

Chamber Selection

When creating a proposal, authors select a chamber: US House of Representatives or US Senate. Bills involving revenue or taxation must originate in the House. Treaties and confirmations are Senate matters. Not sure? Pick either — the community will help sort it out.

Filibuster Proof

In the US Senate, a filibuster can block legislation unless 60 out of 100 senators (60%) vote for cloture. On CitizenSenator, proposals and amendments that pass with ≥66.7% approval earn the “Filibuster Proof”badge. This signals that the measure has such broad support that it could overcome even procedural obstruction — a powerful statement of community consensus.

Filibuster Proof proposals are visually distinguished throughout the site and especially in the Passed Laws section.

AI Transparency

CitizenSenator encourages transparency about AI use. When creating any content — proposals, comments, amendments, or subsection descriptions — authors can check an “I used AI” box and indicate whether:

  • AI Assisted — the idea was the author's, but AI helped write it
  • AI's Idea — the content was generated by AI

A badge is displayed on the content so other users can factor this into their evaluation. AI disclosure is voluntary but encouraged.

Passed Laws & Phase 2

When a proposal passes its final vote, it moves to the Passed Laws section with its full history: original text, all amendments that were merged, vote tallies, and the complete discussion.

Phase 1 (current) is about building the world's best citizen legislature — a place where anyone can propose, debate, and vote on real policy. Phase 2 will take passed laws from the platform into the real world:

  • Finding Republican and Democratic candidates in every US House and Senate primary who pledge to publicly support the proposal
  • Linked fundraising pages for supportive candidates
  • Connecting citizens directly with representatives who will champion their proposals
  • Tracking real-world progress of community-backed legislation

How Ranking Works

Proposals are ranked by engagement: proposals with more comments, amendments, and votes appear higher in feeds. This means low-effort reposts naturally sink while proposals generating real discussion rise to the top.

Within a proposal's discussion, amendments are ranked by total engagement (every vote counts — both yes and no), while regular comments are ranked by net score (upvotes minus downvotes). This ensures amendments with active debate are visible even if they're contentious.