Use case

Community resource allocation with transparent intensity

Resource allocation decisions can miss concentrated need when they count only mild preference. Nicolas helps communities see where a smaller group cares intensely, where support is broad but shallow, and how the final signal was produced.

Start a decision See the mechanism

Nicolas mechanism signals

These concepts follow the mathematical contract used by the app.

Convex cost

cost = c * sum a_ij^2

Voice budget

sum a_ij^2 <= B

Outcome rule

shifted softmax over support

The allocation problem

Projects, grants, services, and shared priorities often benefit people unevenly, which means majority voting can miss the strength of preference among those most affected.

Nicolas lets participants allocate a finite voice budget across alternatives, making stronger preferences visible while preserving a clear record of costs and outcomes.

How the mechanism supports legitimacy

Quadratic voting helps reveal intensity without making influence free. A participant can spend more voice credits on an option that matters deeply, but the squared cost makes that choice accountable.

Nicolas also supports delegation, which can help communities incorporate trusted local knowledge or domain expertise without requiring every participant to evaluate every alternative alone.

Practical limits

Nicolas can support community funding signals, project prioritization, grant shortlists, and participatory budgeting experiments where the group wants a transparent intensity-aware process.

It does not replace procurement rules, public-sector compliance, identity verification, or the governance process that decides how a signal becomes an action.

Use cases

Where this decision model helps

Funding shortlists

Compare projects before allocating grants, sponsorship, or shared community funds.

Participatory budgeting

Run intensity-aware budget signals before a final administrative or legal approval step.

Shared services

See which services matter deeply to affected participants, beyond the ones everyone already recognizes.

FAQ

Can Nicolas support participatory budgeting?

Nicolas can support participatory budgeting-style signals where communities compare alternatives with finite voice budgets and transparent accounting.

Does Nicolas allocate money automatically?

No. Nicolas produces a decision signal. The organization still controls how any funding, procurement, or implementation step happens.

Why not use a simple majority vote?

Majority votes can ignore preference intensity. Quadratic voting is useful when a smaller group may be strongly affected while a larger group only mildly prefers another option.

Keep reading

Continue with adjacent concepts and practical Nicolas workflows.

Participatory governanceExplore governance workflows that need delegation and measurable conviction.Collective decision-making softwareSee the broader Nicolas decision-making model.

The allocation problem

Projects, grants, services, and shared priorities often benefit people unevenly, which means majority voting can miss the strength of preference among those most affected.

Nicolas lets participants allocate a finite voice budget across alternatives, making stronger preferences visible while preserving a clear record of costs and outcomes.

How the mechanism supports legitimacy

Quadratic voting helps reveal intensity without making influence free. A participant can spend more voice credits on an option that matters deeply, but the squared cost makes that choice accountable.

Nicolas also supports delegation, which can help communities incorporate trusted local knowledge or domain expertise without requiring every participant to evaluate every alternative alone.

Practical limits

Nicolas can support community funding signals, project prioritization, grant shortlists, and participatory budgeting experiments where the group wants a transparent intensity-aware process.

It does not replace procurement rules, public-sector compliance, identity verification, or the governance process that decides how a signal becomes an action.