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Main article: Voting Methods
Polling is one of the important applications of the ratings system, particularly the community ratings system (CRS). The CRS, in this context, is useful, not just for ferreting out the truth but for the equally important task of finding out what other people think. We’ve discussed at length how the ratings system is a voting system and certainly polling plays a role in that. But we’ve only discussed polling, in and of itself, briefly.
Polling will play an even greater role in a direct democracy, the putative governance scheme of the CRS, than it does currently in representative democracy. We poll because we want to get a quick idea of what people think, and which direction to pursue, without holding a formal vote over the entire population. Voting in a direct democracy will be constant and require the entire community to take part, so it will be much more expensive than a representative democracy. But a poll of a fraction of the people is quick and inexpensive. So it behooves the community to design its voting with polls in mind so it can formulate its voting issues appropriately. If a poll reveals that no one is interested in high-speed rail, for instance, then there’s little point in formulating a whole-community vote on the matter. If a poll suggests that undertaking a particular policy would anger a significant constituency, then perhaps some reconsideration is in order. Polls deliver insights without the burden of formal bureaucratic processes.
Polling can also be used to ease pressure on the community’s citizens who will be faced with a never-ending stream of issues to vote on. This is somewhat similar to electing representatives (or delegating to them through trust weight assignment). Indeed a community might do both: delegate trust weight for polling (as Dan mentioned) and use polling for decision-making.
Polling is also useful for understanding current thinking and designing educational campaigns to counter collective mistakes. If a significant portion of the population believes vaccines cause autism, then a community public health campaign can target this belief. Or subsequent polls can be taken to understand why people believe as they do. Polling, in this sense, is an integral part of the rating system’s purpose: exposing the truth and motivating change.