The Articles of Confederation came before the Constitution, there were many faults in the Confederation including, the government not being able to tax the citizens and the government not being able to regulate trade.
I believe the answer is: precedent
In social setting, we can see a precedent in court ruling.
When a supreme court ruled a controversial case, the other courts would most likely use the ruling as a precedent to settle similar cases that might appear in the future.
Straw votes is a term to describe an unofficial ballot conducted as a test of opinion. However, straw votes are unreliable as they serve many disadvantages including a straw vote not often representing an accurate cross section of the total population.