Red Dwarf

A DIMensional REDuction library for stellarpunk democracy into the long haul.

Stars are fires that burn for thousands of years. Some of them burn slow and long, like red dwarfs. Others-blue giants-burn their fuel so fast they shine across great distances, and are easy to see. As they start to run out of fuel, they burn helium, grow even hotter, and explode in a supernova. Supernovas, they're brighter than the brightest galaxies. They die, and everyone watches them go. -- Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

If advanced alien civilizations really are out there, the planets of red dwarf stars could be ideal places to find them. -- How the Universe Works (S5E8), Discovery

Inspiration: https://chatgpt.com/share/677f7690-7188-800b-85e5-816aaa7cc8f9

Roadmap

For now, see this related issue

Goals

Code that aspires to embody and support democratic values should be...

• Legible. It should be explorable and auditable not just to researchers, but to as many curious citizens as possible.
• Re-usable. It should be easily used in contexts in which its original creators did not anticipate, nor perhaps even desire.
• Collectively stewarded. It should grow and govern itself democratically and in a plural fashion.

Sponsors

Red Dwarf is generously sponsored by ZKorum SAS, creators of the Agora Citizen Network.

Are you or your organization eager to see more platforms and community built around democracy-supporting algorithms like these? Please consider getting in touch on Discord and supporting our continued work! (ping @patcon)

Usage

See docs/example-usage.ipynb

Loading Data

Let's say that you have a conversation for which you know the conversation url, and you may or may not know the report url. This conversation may also have an archived CSV export saved somewhere online.

• conversation url: https://pol.is/4yy3sh84js
  • conversation_id: 4yy3sh84js
• report url: https://pol.is/report/r5jsvucnwuuhw7dzjvaim
  • report_id: r5jsvucnwuuhw7dzjvaim
• archived CSV export: https://github.com/compdemocracy/openData/tree/master/scoop-hivemind.ubi

from reddwarf.polis import PolisClient

# If you only know the conversation ID, you can fetch the live data from the Polis APIs.
# Note that this may be fresher than a static export hosted elsewhere.
client = PolisClient()
client.load_data(conversation_id="4yy3sh84js")
# If you happen to know the report ID, that can be used instead.

# All of these are equivalent:
client.load_data(conversation_id="4yy3sh84js")
client.load_data(conversation_id="4yy3sh84js", data_source="api")
client.load_data(report_id="r5jsvucnwuuhw7dzjvaim")
client.load_data(report_id="r5jsvucnwuuhw7dzjvaim", data_source="api")

# If you know the report ID, you can also download from the newer and more official CSV export API endpoint:
# Example: https://pol.is/api/v3/reportExport/r5jsvucnwuuhw7dzjvaim/participant-votes.csv
client = PolisClient()
client.load_data(report_id="r5jsvucnwuuhw7dzjvaim", data_source="csv_export")

# All of these are equivalent:
client.load_data(report_id="r5jsvucnwuuhw7dzjvaim", data_source="csv_export")
client.load_data(directory_url="https://pol.is/api/v3/reportExport/r5jsvucnwuuhw7dzjvaim/")


# If you know a remote directory-like path that contains all the raw export files, you can use that.
# EXAMPLE
# Web: https://github.com/compdemocracy/openData/tree/master/scoop-hivemind.ubi
# Raw: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/compdemocracy/openData/refs/heads/master/scoop-hivemind.ubi/
#
# Note: you must tell the loader whether "strict moderation" is being used,
# as this can't be detected from the export data.
# The loader will look for files with these names:
#     - comments.csv
#     - votes.csv
client = PolisClient(is_strict_moderation=True)
client.load_data(directory_url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/compdemocracy/openData/refs/heads/master/scoop-hivemind.ubi/")

# If you have local CSV files, you can also load them individually.
# Again, you must hint the moderation type.
# Filenames must match `*comments.csv` or `*votes.csv`
client = PolisClient(is_strict_moderation=True)
client.load_data(filepaths=[
   "your-data/comments.csv",
   "your-data/votes.csv",
])

Get Involved

• Join the Polis User Group (PUG) Discord server.
• Open a GitHub issue.
• Submit a GitHub pull request.
• Review the Awesome Polis directory to learn about related projects, academic papers, and other resources.
  • Use the "People" section to find other individuals and groups working in the field.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md.

License

MPL 2.0: Mozilla Public License 2.0 (See LICENSE)