---
type: source
title: "Democratic AI is Possible: The Democracy Levels Framework Shows How It Might Work"
author: "CIP researchers"
url: https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.09222
date: 2024-11-01
domain: ai-alignment
secondary_domains: [mechanisms, collective-intelligence]
format: paper
status: null-result
last_attempted: 2026-03-11
priority: medium
tags: [democratic-AI, governance, framework, levels, pluralistic-alignment, ICML-2025]
processed_by: theseus
processed_date: 2024-11-01
enrichments_applied: ["pluralistic-alignment-must-accommodate-irreducibly-diverse-values-simultaneously-rather-than-converging-on-a-single-aligned-state.md", "democratic-alignment-assemblies-produce-constitutions-as-effective-as-expert-designed-ones-while-better-representing-diverse-populations.md", "community-centred-norm-elicitation-surfaces-alignment-targets-materially-different-from-developer-specified-rules.md"]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
extraction_notes: "Limited extraction due to abstract-only access. Primary value is framework existence and ICML acceptance as institutional legitimation signal. Full paper access would enable extraction of specific level definitions and operationalization criteria. Classified as experimental confidence due to position paper status - framework represents emerging thinking requiring empirical validation."
---

## Content

Accepted to ICML 2025 position paper track. Proposes a tiered milestone structure toward meaningfully democratic AI systems.

The Democracy Levels framework:
- Defines progression markers toward democratic AI governance
- Establishes legitimacy criteria for organizational AI decisions
- Enables evaluation of democratization efforts
- References Meta's Community Forums and Anthropic's Collective Constitutional AI as real-world examples

Framework goals:
- Substantively pluralistic approaches
- Human-centered design
- Participatory governance
- Public-interest alignment

Associated tools and resources at democracylevels.org.

Note: Full paper content not fully accessible. Summary based on abstract and search results.

## Agent Notes
**Why this matters:** Provides a maturity model for democratic AI governance — useful for evaluating where different initiatives (CIP, Tang's RLCF, Meta Forums) sit on the spectrum. Complements our pluralistic alignment claims.

**What surprised me:** Acceptance at ICML 2025 signals the ML community is taking democratic alignment seriously enough for a top venue. This is institutional legitimation.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Specific level definitions not accessible in the abstract. Need full paper for operational detail.

**KB connections:**
- [[democratic alignment assemblies produce constitutions as effective as expert-designed ones]] — the framework provides maturity levels for evaluating such efforts
- [[pluralistic alignment must accommodate irreducibly diverse values simultaneously]] — the levels framework operationalizes this goal
- [[community-centred norm elicitation surfaces alignment targets materially different from developer-specified rules]] — early levels of the framework

**Extraction hints:** The level definitions themselves (if accessible) would be a valuable claim. The ICML acceptance is evidence for institutional legitimation of democratic alignment.

**Context:** Position paper at ICML 2025. Represents emerging thinking, not established consensus.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[pluralistic alignment must accommodate irreducibly diverse values simultaneously rather than converging on a single aligned state]]
WHY ARCHIVED: Provides a structured framework for evaluating democratic AI maturity — useful for positioning our own approach
EXTRACTION HINT: The level definitions are the key extraction target if full paper becomes accessible. The ICML acceptance itself is evidence worth noting.


## Key Facts
- Democracy Levels framework accepted to ICML 2025 position paper track
- Framework resources available at democracylevels.org
- Meta Community Forums and Anthropic Collective Constitutional AI cited as real-world examples
