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formation-docs/README.md

On this page
  1. Formation Documents
  2. What belongs here
  3. Where the source corpus lives
  4. Directory map
  5. Analysis workflow
  6. Translation and expert review
  7. Current scope
  8. Relationship to the rest of the repo

Formation Documents

This directory is now the project-2028 side of a two-repository workflow for comparative formation-document analysis.

  • retained source texts, source metadata, sourcing policy, and translation workflow now live in external-formation-docs
  • analysis memos, synthesis artifacts, framework guidance, exchanges, and protocol decisions stay here in project-2028

The split is intentional. external-formation-docs preserves the source corpus as reference material. This directory interprets that corpus and compares it to PRINCIPLES.md.

What belongs here

This directory should contain only project-authored analysis and comparative workflow materials:

  • source-by-source alignment memos
  • synthesis artifacts that aggregate findings across the corpus
  • the shared alignment rubric for comparing external texts to the 17 principles
  • the registry that tracks which sources are in scope and where they live

It should not be used to retain or edit canonical external source texts.

Where the source corpus lives

Use external-formation-docs for:

  • documents/ containing retained texts and _source-meta.yaml
  • SOURCING_POLICY.md
  • TRANSLATION_WORKFLOW.md
  • _source-meta-template.yaml

That repository is the canonical home for constitutions, charters, declarations, cooperative identity statements, and similar external formation documents used by this analysis track.

Directory map

project-2028/formation-docs/
  README.md
  SOURCE_REGISTRY.md
  ALIGNMENT_FRAMEWORK.md
  analysis/
    principle-maps/
    synthesis/
  • SOURCE_REGISTRY.md tracks which sources are in scope and links out to their folders in external-formation-docs.
  • ALIGNMENT_FRAMEWORK.md defines how external provisions map to Civic Blueprint's 17 principles.
  • analysis/principle-maps/ contains one alignment memo per source or source set.
  • analysis/synthesis/ contains cross-source outputs such as the alignment matrix, gap analysis, and uniqueness tracking.

Analysis workflow

This track uses the Comparative Alignment Protocol, then feeds into the rest of the project's review stack:

  1. Add or register a source in external-formation-docs.
  2. Record or update _source-meta.yaml in that repository.
  3. Produce a source-specific alignment memo in analysis/principle-maps/.
  4. Update synthesis artifacts in analysis/synthesis/.
  5. If the source exposes meaningful tensions or omissions, open or extend an exchange in agent/exchanges/.
  6. Use the Adversarial Review Protocol to test any strong synthesis claim that emerges.
  7. Use the Coherence Audit Protocol if findings imply changes to PRINCIPLES.md, the roadmap, exchange dependencies, or source-handling assumptions.

Translation and expert review

Many of the most valuable formation documents are multilingual or translation-sensitive. Translation-status tracking, native-language review requests, and retention decisions now live with the source corpus in external-formation-docs, especially in:

Analysis written here should state whether it relies on original-language text, an official translation, an unofficial public translation, or an AI working translation. Claims that depend materially on wording nuance should remain provisional until expert or official verification exists.

Current scope

The corpus currently spans four source families:

  • nation-state formation documents
  • U.S. state constitutions
  • international charters and declarations
  • organizational identity and governance texts

The goal is not to rebuild the broader comparative-constitutional ecosystem. The goal is to pressure-test Civic Blueprint's principles against a disciplined external corpus and make overlap, divergence, silence, and possible gaps legible.

Relationship to the rest of the repo

This directory remains a comparative analysis layer, not a replacement for the core project documents.

  • PRINCIPLES.md remains the thing being tested
  • ROADMAP.md remains the canonical tracker of major project next steps
  • agent/exchanges/ remains where consequential findings are debated
  • agent/process/ remains where the reusable review protocols live

The value of this directory is not that it stores texts. Its value is that it gives the project a disciplined place to interpret external founding commitments without collapsing them into Civic Blueprint's own voice.