Master Document – Level‑3 outline (excluding embedded narrative detail)
1. Project overview and mission
1.1 What America’s Plan is
- Living, multi‑issue civic infrastructure project.
- Shared platform for affected parties, helpers, and experts.
- Built around a plan‑to‑enforcement pipeline.
- Multiple tools wired into a single platform.
- Work on one issue strengthens work on others.
- Stable enough to support long‑term learning.
1.2 Core problem
- Power struggles and institutional capture shape decisions.
- Affected parties lack agenda and enforcement power.
- Advocacy is fragmented by issue, organization, and cycle.
- Plans and campaigns dissolve after the moment passes.
- No common rights‑first, multi‑issue home for strategy.
1.3 Mission and long‑term vision
- Build rights‑first, democracy‑anchored civic infrastructure.
- Short term: create a usable home for shared planning.
- Medium term: clear roles and workflows across hubs.
- Long term: visible track record of cross‑issue wins.
- Learning and infrastructure accumulate over years.
- Designed to outlast tools, leaders, and news cycles.
1.4 What makes this different (USP)
- Explicitly multi‑issue, not single‑issue.
- Rights‑first and democracy‑first, not party‑first.
- Infrastructure‑first, not campaign‑first.
- Oriented to planning and enforcement, not just messaging.
- Designed for reuse and adaptation by many actors.
1.5 About this Master Document
- Operational reference for America’s Plan.
- Replaces earlier Study Guide versions.
- Internal study guide and design notebook.
- Source for public anchors and onboarding guides.
- Other sections align with this overview and mission.
- Maintained as the authoritative, up‑to‑date map.
2. Core concepts and definitions
2.1 Power‑struggle and capture framing
- Systems shaped by organized power struggles.
- Institutions vulnerable to capture by concentrated interests.
- Plans designed with resistant or hostile power in mind.
- Focus on structural, not purely accidental, failures.
2.2 Plan‑to‑enforcement pipeline
- Problem framing and shared baselines.
- Plan design and public articulation.
- Adoption and implementation pathways.
- Monitoring, enforcement, and feedback.
- Reusable pipeline pattern across issues.
2.3 Affected parties and lived experience
- Clear distinction between affected parties and allies.
- Lived experience as non‑optional input.
- Co‑design role, not just storytelling role.
- Guardrails against tokenization and extraction.
2.4 Shared infrastructure and multi‑issue scope
- Common tools and workflows across hubs.
- Shared concepts and language across issues.
- Issue maps for cross‑issue navigation.
- Infrastructure built for reuse and extension.
3. Architecture: stack, platform, organization, plan
3.1 Tools stack (WordPress, forum, wiki, newsletter, etc.)
- Public publishing (site, blog, newsletter).
- Discussion and deliberation spaces.
- Documentation and reference spaces.
- Coordination and task‑tracking tools.
- Basic analytics and outreach tools.
3.2 Platform integration (links, categories, shared guides)
- Consistent categories and tags tied to hubs/issues.
- Cross‑linking between posts, hubs, and plans.
- Shared navigation pages and guides.
- Content templates and patterns.
- Minimal duplication of structure across tools.
3.3 Organization of people (roles in relation to the stack)
- Facilitators anchored in discussion and planning spaces.
- Writers and editors anchored in publishing tools.
- Helpers working across tech, comms, and operations.
- Governance roles stewarding structure and norms.
- Clear contact points for each major area.
3.4 Issue plans and overall plan
- Issue‑level plans as primary units of work.
- Hubs as containers for related issue plans.
- Overall plan as aggregation across hubs.
- Room for tension between different issue plans.
- High‑level view without erasing local detail.
3.5 Implementation and accountability layer
- Mechanisms to connect plans to real actors.
- Campaign and outreach infrastructure.
- Tracking promises, commitments, and actions.
- Spaces for reporting results and failures.
- Feedback loops into plan revision and content.
4. Roles and governance
4.1 Facilitators
- Guide discussions toward clear outcomes.
- Hold rights‑first and process norms.
- Translate input into structured artifacts.
- Ensure affected parties are included.
- Coordinate across tools and threads.
4.2 Subject‑matter experts (including politicians)
- Provide domain knowledge and constraints.
- Offer realistic institutional pathways.
- Flag feasibility and unintended consequences.
- Participate without capturing agenda or framing.
- Document insights for reuse across issues.
4.3 Helpers (technical and communications)
- Maintain and improve the tool stack.
- Support onboarding and user help.
- Shape design, layout, and UX.
- Support public messaging and outreach.
- Bridge content, tech, and governance needs.
4.4 General participants / affected parties
- Bring lived experience and questions.
- Contribute to problem definition and priorities.
- Participate in planning and feedback cycles.
- Grow into more formal roles over time.
- Test whether plans are grounded and legible.
4.5 Governance roles (board, steering, guardrails)
- Hold mission, baselines, and red lines.
- Adjust high‑level structure and priorities.
- Resolve conflicts and edge‑case decisions.
- Oversee partnerships, funding, and major risks.
- Ensure accountability for roles and processes.
5. Issue structure: hubs, pre‑hubs, issues
5.1 Hubs
- High‑level groupings for complex domains.
- Contain multiple related issues and plans.
- Store shared concepts and cross‑cutting content.
- Have clear scope notes and boundaries.
- Stable enough to orient long‑term work.
5.2 Pre‑hubs
- Provisional groupings for emerging areas.
- Used while scope and boundaries are unclear.
- Host exploratory content and early mapping.
- May graduate into hubs or merge into others.
- Reviewed periodically for promotion or merge.
5.3 Issues
- Specific, scoped problem areas.
- Tied to identifiable affected parties.
- Anchors for concrete plans and accountability.
- Linked to a primary hub and any secondary hubs.
- Have short, clear problem statements.
5.4 Naming and scope conventions
- Descriptive, not slogan‑based names.
- Scope narrow enough to be actionable.
- Avoid overlapping or duplicate issues.
- Consistent hub and issue naming patterns.
- Criteria for splitting, merging, or renaming.
6. Workflows: planning → implementation → accountability
6.1 Planning and analysis workflows
- Move from raw concerns to structured problems.
- Gather and synthesize information and perspectives.
- Define baselines and goals for “better.”
- Draft and revise candidate plans.
- Record decisions and reasoning.
6.2 Implementation workflows (campaigns, adoption)
- Identify institutions and actors to target.
- Design campaigns, asks, and engagements.
- Coordinate outreach and relationships.
- Support local adaptations of plans.
- Track adoption and commitments.
6.3 Accountability workflows (monitoring, follow‑through)
- Monitor what was promised vs. what happened.
- Gather reports from affected parties and allies.
- Log successes, failures, and partial wins.
- Escalate when commitments are broken.
- Feed results back into plans and messaging.
6.4 Roles across the workflow pipeline
- Map which roles appear at each stage.
- Clarify handoffs between roles and teams.
- Show how leadership shifts over time.
- Highlight dependencies across hubs and issues.
- Surface gaps where new roles are needed.
7. Content architecture and anchor materials
7.1 Anchor articles and concept pieces
- Explain core ideas and frameworks.
- Provide durable overviews for hubs and issues.
- Serve as reference points for other content.
- Updated deliberately, not casually.
- Linked from many posts and pages.
7.2 Issue‑driven and news‑driven posts
- Respond to specific events or developments.
- Connect news to existing hubs and plans.
- Offer timely analysis and actions.
- Avoid purely reactive, context‑less posts.
- Archived to preserve long‑term value.
7.3 Linking posts back to anchors and hubs
- Each post tied to at least one hub/issue.
- Standard “background” and “more info” links.
- Consistent internal linking and tagging.
- Cross‑links between related hubs and issues.
- Backlink habits for newly created content.
7.4 Supporting guides and reference documents
- How‑to guides for workflows and tools.
- FAQs for contributors and readers.
- Role handbooks and checklists.
- Reference collections (data, laws, precedents).
- Kept in sync with anchors and workflows.
8. Style guides
8.1 Internal documents style guide
- Standards for headings, bullets, and summaries.
- Expectations for clarity and brevity.
- Conventions for decision logs and status markers.
- Preferred formats for plans and workflows.
- Accessibility and readability considerations.
8.2 Articles and public posts style guide
- Voice and tone for public writing.
- Standard structure for posts and pages.
- Citation and evidence expectations.
- Rules for headlines, excerpts, and images.
- Guidelines for calls to action.
8.3 Tone and stance (rights‑first, democracy‑first)
- Affirming core rights and democratic norms.
- Naming harm without dehumanizing.
- Avoiding partisan cheerleading and tribalism.
- Centering affected parties in problem framing.
- Handling disagreement and conflict in public.
8.4 Standard article/post structure
- Context and problem framing.
- What “better” looks like and why.
- Pathways to change and relevant plans.
- Specific actions readers can take.
- Pointers to hubs, anchors, and further reading.
9. Platform usage patterns and prompts
9.1 Using AI with the Master Document
- AI for drafting, refactoring, and summarizing.
- Master Document as the source of truth.
- Prompts that reference hubs, issues, and roles.
- Patterns for checking and updating AI outputs.
- Noting limits and risks of AI use.
9.2 Recap and context‑seeding patterns
- Standard recap prompts for new threads.
- Short structured summaries of ongoing work.
- Habits for carrying context across sessions.
- Where to store canonical context outside AI.
- Routines for correcting drift or confusion.
9.3 Reusable prompts (e.g., article‑to‑post)
- Prompts for exploration and outlining.
- Prompts for converting anchors to shorter posts.
- Prompts for drafting plans and workflows.
- Prompts for role‑specific tasks and checklists.
- Prompts for reviewing risks and guardrails.
9.4 Collaboration and review routines
- Norms for sharing drafts and requesting feedback.
- Suggested review sequences for key content.
- Tags or labels for review status.
- Using tools to manage comments and revisions.
- Finalization and publishing steps.
10. Risks, guardrails, and parked ideas
10.1 Fragmentation and ideological conflict risks
- Splintering into hostile or closed sub‑groups.
- Capture by narrow ideological factions.
- Loss of cross‑issue coherence and trust.
- Over‑identification with specific leaders or parties.
- Burnout and turnover in key roles.
10.2 Guardrails for rights‑first, non‑tribal culture
- Explicit shared baselines and norms.
- Onboarding that teaches culture and expectations.
- Clear responses to norm violations.
- Structures protecting dissent and critique.
- Processes for de‑escalation and repair.
10.3 Parked strategic ideas (e.g., multi‑country rollout)
- Potential expansions and big bets.
- Ideas deferred for capacity or timing.
- Conditions for revisiting each idea.
- Notes on benefits and risks.
- Avoid silent abandonment or surprise revivals.
10.4 Rejected approaches and rationale
- Approaches tried and found harmful or misaligned.
- Strategies ruled out on principle.
- Key tradeoffs behind each rejection.
- Lessons for future decisions.
- Pointers to deeper discussion logs.
11. Measurement, learning, and iteration
11.1 Goals and success signals
- Clear long‑term goals for the project.
- Issue‑level and hub‑level outcomes.
- Signals of healthy participation and culture.
- Signals of real‑world impact and wins.
- Alignment with rights‑first, democracy‑first baselines.
11.2 Participation and engagement metrics
- Who is showing up and where.
- Depth and quality of engagement.
- Distribution and health of roles.
- Onboarding, retention, and churn.
- Guard against vanity metrics.
11.3 Plan and platform learning cycles
- Regular review of plans and outcomes.
- Mechanisms to collect feedback and stories.
- Processes for changing workflows and structures.
- Space for experimentation and small pilots.
- Document what changed and why.
11.4 Versioning and major iteration notes
- Named versions of the Master Document.
- Summaries of major architecture changes.
- Notes on governance and role shifts.
- Timeline of key decisions and pivots.
- Links to deeper design discussions.
12. Ethical, legal, and data/privacy principles
12.1 Rights and democracy baselines
- Core human‑rights commitments.
- Democratic norms that are non‑negotiable.
- Minimum standards for participation and voice.
- Stances against discrimination and exclusion.
- How baselines apply across hubs and issues.
12.2 Non‑partisan but honest stance
- Independence from parties and brands.
- Willingness to name harmful actors and policies.
- Avoid false balance on rights violations.
- Transparency about values and judgments.
- Guidance for contributors on public speech.
12.3 Data and privacy practices
- What data is collected and why.
- Storage, access, and security expectations.
- Consent, transparency, and opt‑out options.
- Limits on data sharing and monetization.
- Protocols for incidents or breaches.
12.4 Partnerships, funding, and red lines
- Criteria for acceptable partners and funders.
- Red‑line conditions for refusal or exit.
- Disclosure and transparency expectations.
- Conflict‑of‑interest handling.
- Periodic review of partnership landscape.
13. Lists
13.1 Definitions list
- Canonical short definitions for core concepts.
- Pointers to deeper explanations and anchors.
- Maintained as a single source of truth.
- Used across internal and external materials.
- Versioned as concepts evolve.
13.2 Core ideas series list
- Index of anchor and core‑idea pieces.
- Short descriptions and intended audiences.
- Links to locations on the platform.
- Status markers (draft, stable, needs update).
- Space for planned future entries.
13.3 Hubs, pre‑hubs, and issues list
- Full catalog of hubs and pre‑hubs.
- Issue list under each hub.
- Short scope notes for each entry.
- Status (active, paused, proposed).
- Review cadence and responsible roles.
13.4 Other standardized lists (as needed)
- Role types and responsibilities.
- Core workflows and patterns.
- Recurring campaigns and initiatives.
- Standard prompts and templates.
- Any other list‑friendly structures.
14. To Be Considered for Removal (Appendix)
14.1 Probably keep, needs a home
- Items with clear value but unclear placement.
- Legacy content likely to be integrated.
- Notes on candidate destinations.
- Owner responsible for placement decision.
- Timeline or trigger for decision.
14.2 Maybe archive, low current value
- Historical but low‑relevance materials.
- Content that distracts in the main document.
- Marked for potential archival move.
- Conditions for possible revival.
- Basic metadata preserved for reference.
14.3 Likely remove
- Items that no longer fit the project.
- Superseded or redundant content.
- Flagged for deletion after review.
- Record of who proposed removal and why.
- Checkpoints before permanent deletion.
14.4 Notes on discarded decisions
- Short summaries of decisions to drop items.
- Rationale and context for each choice.
- Links to deeper discussion or decision logs.
- Prevents re‑litigating old debates.
- Helps future contributors understand the path.