Feeling new to all of this? Here are some questions to get you started!
What is fractal resilience?
Fractals are endless complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. In each iteration they reflect the same principles of the core from which they are generated.
(The logos for this website were made using a recursive drawing tool that generates fractal images, endless iterations of the same structure!)
Fractal resilience is a kind of durable adaptability that arises in complex systems that is, well, fractal. Think about the the way bees dance to determine where their new home will be, the roots of a tree that reach into the depths of the earth for nourishment, how schools of fish organize to protect themselves, or a flock of cells work together to bring down a fever, and the body back to equilibrium. Each system self-organizes absent a central authority in the service of an outcome.
That’s fractal resilience.
What do fractals have to do with U.S. Elections?
Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution was written so the laws governing how elections are run are generally are determined by the states, not the federal government, save for the rare act of Congress.
While the reality of U.S. election administration is a lot more complex (and we’ll get into those details elsewhere) what this effectively means is that the administration of elections is facilitated not by a national body, or even a state office, but by the thousands of local offices running elections in your community!
But here’s the thing— while yes, your local election office administers elections for your community, they are also a part of something much bigger. Across the country and year-round, election offices attend conferences and webinars. They share ideas and resources. They go through training and professional development classes. They learn from one another and other democracy stakeholders. Together, they form a complex whole greater than the sum of its parts, all in service of one idea: the administration of free, fair, and democratic elections.
That’s fractal resilience, too.
So what is Project Fractal Resilience?
Project Fractal Resilience is a place for everyone to learn about the creative people who make elections happen, the democracy stakeholders that support them, and how the unique make-up of American election law and administration facilitates fractal resilience.
But it is also a place for the people who make elections happen— the local officials and staff on the ground, state boards of elections and secretaries of state, and the thousands of democracy stakeholders who support their work—to appreciate their own significance in the stunningly resilient, complex system that comprises American election administration.
While Project Fractal Resilience is centered around elections in the United States, the insights gleaned from this project extend far beyond this singular complex system. We believe that how we do elections in the United States has something bigger to say about resilient democracies. While it centers uplifting, protecting, and honoring the vote as a foundational and necessary (though by no means sufficient) act for cultivating democratic resilience, that story is just the beginning.
Ultimately, Project Fractal Resilience functions as a complex system itself, an ongoing project that can continually surprise us with its creativity, illustrating how a shared commitment to a singular value—like the right to vote—can generate a more resilient future.