An abstract model of how a proposal moves from a first draft to a final decision: drafting, submission, committee review, debate and a vote — with a return loop when the proposal is not passed.
It is an abstract model of how a written proposal moves from an idea to a decision. The text passes through a fixed order of stages: it is drafted, formally submitted, reviewed, debated and finally voted on. The result of the vote is the outcome.
The diagram is a flowchart, so the order matters. Forward progress runs left to right along the solid arrows; anything that sends the proposal backwards runs along the dashed loops.
A proposal is rarely finished on the first pass. During review the wording can be changed by amendments, and the revised text is sent back to be checked again. If the vote does not pass the proposal, it is returned to the drafting stage instead of simply ending.
This is a deliberately abstract model. It is not drawn from any particular institution, country or legal system, and it makes no judgement about any of them.
The process begins when someone writes an idea up as a formal proposal. This first version is the starting point the rest of the stages act on.
The draft is then tabled or registered so that it formally enters the process. Until this step it is only a document; afterwards it is an active proposal.
Review is where a smaller group examines the proposal in detail. Wording is adjusted through amendments, and the revised text is sent back to review, so this stage can repeat a few times.
In debate the proposal is argued for and against openly. A vote then determines the outcome and records whether the proposal is passed or not passed.
A proposal that fails is not simply discarded in this model: a dashed loop carries it back to the drafting stage, where it can be revised and put forward again.
In this abstract model there are five main stages in order: drafting, submission, committee review, debate and voting. The vote then produces an outcome, which is either passed or not passed.
Review is where a smaller group examines the proposal closely. Printed changes to the text, called amendments, are proposed here and the revised wording is sent back, so review and amendment can repeat.
It is returned to the drafting stage along a dashed loop. The proposal can then be revised and put forward again, rather than simply disappearing.
No. The solid arrows show the forward steps through the stages, while dashed loops show the revision and return paths that go backwards to an earlier stage.
No. It is a deliberately abstract model used only to show the order of steps in a review and voting process. It does not describe or judge any real institution, country or political system.