Opportunities of Fuzzy Voting in Decision-Making and Negotiation Techniques in Municipal and Regional Contexts

This paper addresses the challenge of capturing detailed preferences in political decision-making, considering the limitations of traditional binary voting systems. It seeks to explore an alternative approach that allows for negotiation and the expression of nuanced preferences to facilitate compromise and enhance citizen participation in democratic governance. Decision makers express their preferences using fuzzy sliders and linguistic expressions. The effectiveness of fuzzy voting in capturing detailed preferences and facilitating compromise is demonstrated through the application of action design research. Three real-life case studies illustrate how fuzzy voting processes can improve decision-making by providing nuanced information and fostering negotiation among stakeholders. The findings suggest that fuzzy voting holds promise in enhancing citizen participation and addressing the political complexity inherent in democratic governance. The implementation of fuzzy voting in a manner that ensures its effectiveness requires a high degree of attention to interface design as well as stakeholder engagement. This approach offers a potential avenue for improving democratic decision-making processes in an increasingly complex and polarised political landscape.