Quill: A Framework for Constructing Negotiated Texts - With a Case Study on the US Constitutional Convention of 1787

This paper describes a new approach to the presentation of records relating to formal negotiations and the texts that they create. It describes the architecture of a model, platform, and web-interface (https://www.quillproject.net) that can be used by domain-experts to convert the records typical of formal negotiations in to a model of decision-making (with minimal training). This model has implications for both research and teaching, by allowing for better qualitative and quantitative analysis of negotiations. The platform emphasizes the reconstruction as closely as possible of the context within which proposals and decisions are made. A generic platform, its usability, and benefits are illustrated by a presentation of the records relating to the 1787 Constitutional Convention that wrote the Constitution of the United States.