Eight principles.
Decisions made now and decisions made later are tested against these.
The principles.
Drawn from brand/profile.md §4. Held permanently.Citation discipline
The model is the Ant; the citizen is the Bee; no Spider is allowed. Polity retrieves and cites; citizens synthesize.
Offer, do not require
Depth is offered, never pushed. Civic orientation is the default; analytical depth is accessible behind clear navigation.
Civic-identity primary
Polity foregrounds civic and American identity over any other identity category. The body politic precedes ethnic distinctions.
Primary-source first
Voting records, bill text, hearings, and founding documents come before any editorial layer. News and secondary sources are deferred.
Disagreement preserved, not resolved
Polity does not synthesize a single right answer to contested civic questions. It surfaces the dialectic and lets citizens read it.
Anti-engagement-optimization
No virality metrics. No algorithmic outrage. No notifications by default. The attention economy rewards depth, not visibility.
Citizen-controlled
The Citizen's Vault is yours. Encryption with your keys. Full export and portability.
Aristotelian framing, lived not lectured
The political-animal posture sits in the architecture, surfaces in editorial moments, and shapes the rhythm of engagement.