CZ:Charter: Difference between revisions

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== Preamble ==
 
The Citizendium is a collaborative effort to collect, structure, and cultivate knowledge and to render it conveniently accessible to the public for free. It is built online by volunteers who contribute under their real names and agree to this social covenant centered around trust.
 
 
== Part I: Citizenship and Editorship ==
 
===Article 1===
 
Registered users shall be referred to as Citizens.
 
 
===Article 2===
 
All persons who apply for a Citizendium account shall do so under their real name and according to other criteria that may be established by the Citizendium Council. Application process shall be defined by the Citizendium Council. Participants in Citizendium agree to abide by this charter and other terms of participation as established by the Citizendium Council.
 
 
===Article 3===
 
Citizens shall not have their application to join or their use of the site blocked or terminated on the basis of their nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, creed, gender, sexuality, profession, education, politics, residence, age, name, or URL. Nor shall any official or governing body of the Citizendium discriminate in favor or against Citizens (except to the degree that such discrimination promotes editorial expertise), or any dispute be resolved, on the basis of any of these criteria.
 
 
===Article 4===
 
The Citizendium community shall recognize the special role that experts play in defining content standards in their relevant fields and in guiding content development towards reliability and quality.
 
 
===Article 5===
 
Citizens shall act responsibly and in a civil manner: derogatory or offensive language or behavior will not be tolerated. Citizens who interfere with another Citizen's rights as delineated by this Charter or who violate rules established by the Citizendium Council shall be subject to administrative action upon complaint of the aggrieved Citizen, the punishment of which may include, but is not limited to, suspension from the Citizendium for a period of time, or permanent expulsion. Other administrative actions may be established by the Citizendium Council.
 
 
===Article 6===
 
Citizens shall mutually respect their competency regarding any of their contributions.
 
 
===Article 7===
 
All Citizens shall be equal and no special privileges shall be granted except those granted in this charter to Editors and Officers.
 
 
===Article 8===
 
1. Each Citizen is assigned a User space and user Talk space bearing his Citizendium user name.
* These pages are subject to the same copyright license as all other pages contributed to the project,
* their history shall be preserved and thus they shall not be deleted, but
* they are not released to be indexed by search engines.
 
2. Citizens may—within the limits set by the Citizendium Council—freely edit pages in their user space as long as
* it contains the minimum of biographical information required by the Citizendium Council, and
* the information needed for administrative purposes,
but inflammatory, derogatory, or illegal material shall be removed by the Moderator Group.
 
3. User Talk pages shall be open to communications by other Citizens, but may be moderated by their owner.
* However, discussions of general interest that are not welcomed by the owner must not be blanked, but may be moved to a more suitable place.
 
4. A Citizen who wishes to retire from the Citizendium (whether for a period of time or forever)
* may replace his User page and his user Talk page by a page carrying only a notice of his withdrawal, except that
* Editors must retain the minimum information required by the Citizendium Council.
* Exceptionally, a User page may be deleted rather than simply blanked on request if the Citizen has never been active on the project.
 
 
===Article 9===
 
All Citizens shall be treated fairly and respectfully by other Citizens, Editors, and Officers of the Citizendium.
 
 
===Article 10===
 
In cases of dispute, Citizens have the right to request the help of other Citizens or Editors.
 
 
===Article 11===
 
Citizens should expect Officers and Editors to be fair and impartial. Biased Officers and Editors shall recuse themselves from their official positions in any dispute resolution process.
 
 
===Article 12===
 
Dispute resolutions should be resolved on the basis of the evidence and not upon the character, point of view, or politics of the Citizen.
 
 
===Article 13===
 
Citizens shall not have any decision rendered against them in a dispute resolution process for which they have not had opportunity to have their say.
 
 
===Article 14===
 
Editors are Citizens whose expertise in some field of knowledge is recognized and formally acknowledged by the community.  Official recognition of expertise — obtained through education or experience — and its scope shall be based on guidelines established by the Citizendium Council.
 
 
===Article 15===
 
Editors shall assure the quality of the Citizendium's approved content. They shall review and evaluate articles and shall have the right to
#approve high-quality articles that treat their topic adequately;
#resolve disputes over specific content matters when requested;
#enforce style and content guidelines as established by the Citizendium Council; and
#identify for discussion incorrect or poorly presented content.
 
 
===Article 16===
 
Any change in Editor status shall require a formal decision by the Citizendium Council and may be appealed.
 
 
== Part II: Content and style ==
 
===Article 17===
 
The Citizendium Council shall be empowered to develop policy on content and style.
 
 
===Article 18===
 
The Citizendium shall welcome contributions in all fields of knowledge.
 


{{TOC|right}}
===Article 19===
 
All articles shall treat their subjects comprehensively, neutrally, and objectively to the greatest degree possible in a well-written narrative, complementing text with other suitable material and media.
 
 
===Article 20===
 
Specialist material—including original research—shall be welcome within limits set by the Citizendium Council.  Specialist material shall be put into context with background information and non-specialist material.
 
 
===Article 21===
 
As far as possible, special requirements of visually or otherwise impaired users and of responsibly exercised automated access shall be taken into account. Appropriate policies shall be developed when needed by the Citizendium Council.
 
 
===Article 22===
 
Articles formally judged to be of high quality by editors shall be designated "approved", protected and kept permanently available.
 
 
===Article 23===
 
The Citizendium shall remain free of advocacy, advertisement and sensationalism.
 
 
== Part III: Organization and offices ==
 
''See also [[CZ:Charter#Article 50|Article 50]] (procedure to resolve lack of functioning governance)''
 
===Article 24===
 
The Citizendium shall be devoted to transparent and fair governance with a minimum of bureaucracy. It shall have one governing council: the Citizendium Council, and two ancillary positions: Managing Editor, Moderator Group.
 
 
===Article 25===
 
'''Section One: Election Cycle'''
 
# Each year, half the members of the Council shall be elected.  Elections for the Citizendium Council shall be completed by June 21 of each calendar year.
# Elections shall be run by an "Election Committee" appointed by the Citizendium Council.  Any citizen, including officials but excepting nominees, may serve on the elections committee. If the Council fail to appoint an Election Committee, the Managing Editor shall do so, failing whom also, the Moderator Group shall do so. The Committee shall comprise at least two members. Committee members shall be Citizens who do not hold Council seats or any other elected office. Appointees to other offices may serve.
# The Election Committee shall maintain all nomination and ballot pages on the Citizendium.
# For newly elected members, the term of office shall begin on the first of July for the Citizendium Council.
 
'''Section Two: Nominations'''
 
# Any Citizen may nominate and/or support one or more candidates for the Council.
# A Citizen who is supported by another Citizen becomes a candidate by declaring the intention to serve for the whole term.
# Election Committee members shall be ineligible for nomination in the election. If a member resigns, the Council may appoint a replacement.
 
'''Section Three: Elections'''
 
# The candidates collecting the most votes shall be elected.
# A Council member who resigns or becomes inactive or unavailable for a period of 90 days or more shall be replaced either by election or by a vote of the Council only.
# A vacant council member seat shall be filled within 90 days of the vacancy. If a normal election does not fall within this period, the Citizendium Council shall call a special election or vote to fill the seat with an appointed member who shall serve until the next regularly-scheduled election.
# A special election is organized exactly as a regularly scheduled election, except the number of positions to be filled equals the number of Council vacancies.
# Interim appointees to the Council must be approved by vote of the Council and may serve only until the next regularly-scheduled election.
# Any Council-appointed election results auditor may not be a candidate, a member of the Election Committee or a member of the Council.
 
'''Section Four: Council Size'''
 
# The Council may propose a change of its size by an even number of members; this proposal shall be subject to a referendum held together with the next election. If passed, the new seats shall be filled by special election.
# A Council member may request a temporary leave of absence. Such leaves shall not exceed 120 days in a year. The temporary vacancy shall be filled with a citizen in good standing chosen by the Council. The term of this appointment shall equal the term of the temporary leave.
# If, through resignations or simultaneous expiration of 90 day inactivity, Citizendium Council membership falls below a quorum, the Managing Editor shall fill one seat on a temporary basis as a voting member. The Citizendium Council shall be devoted to the task of establishing an Election Committee for the purpose of holding an election, or alternatively to vote to fill the seat(s) with (an) appointed member(s) who shall serve until the next regularly-scheduled election.
# If, through resignation or 90 days' inactivity, the office of Managing Editor becomes vacant, the Citizendium Council shall either appoint an Election Committee to fill the office via an election, or vote to appoint an Editor who shall serve until the next regularly-scheduled election.
 
===Article 26===


''This draft document shall serve as the basis for public discussion. It represents a compromise amongst the drafters, who may have different individual opinions on some aspects of this Charter.''
The Managing Editor shall be elected by a simple majority of the voting citizenry during the same election period as the Citizendium Council.  Any Editor in good standing may be nominated for the position, and all valid, accepted nominations must appear on the ballot.


==Mission==
Citizendium is a collaborative effort to collect, structure, and update knowledge and to render it conveniently accessible to the public for free.  It is created by volunteers — henceforth Citizens — who contribute under their real names and agree to a social covenant centered around trust.


==Membership==
===Article 27===


*Citizendium membership is open to anyone.  
Moderators shall be appointed by the Citizendium Council. The Citizendium Council shall determine the number of Moderators. Any Citizen in good standing shall be eligible for the Moderator Group. The Citizendium Council shall appoint one Moderator as Moderator-in-Chief.  
*All members register and contribute to the project under their real names. 
*The Citizendium community recognizes the special role that experts play in defining content standards in their relevant fields and in assuring that these are being met by the site's contents.
*Contributors must act responsibly and in a civil manner — derogatory or offensive commentary is not tolerated.


==Citizen participation==
*All Citizens in good standing — as defined by the Management Committee — shall be entitled to vote.
*Citizens are given the right to contribute to or modify content of any article draft at any time.
*Citizens may have their rights to vote or to contribute restricted or entirely removed by the Constabulary as a result of misconduct.


==Editors==
===Article 29===
*Editors are Citizens with demonstrated expertise in some field of knowledge, through either education or experience. Official recognition of expertise shall be based on guidelines established by the Editorial Council.
*Within an editorial scope defined by the Editorial Council, Editors have the right to: (a) make decisions about the scope and quality of the content in articles; (b) make decisions about specific questions or disputes concerning that content; (c) recommend approval of high quality articles that meet their expectations for the article's subject.
*Editors may abdicate their editorial rights at any time.
*Editors may have their editorial rights removed only by the Editorial Council.


==Style==
All official posts shall be subject to the following conditions:
*Citizendium encourages constructive contributions on all topics.
#The term of office shall be two years, renewable. The term of any replacement shall end when the original term ends.
*All entries at Citizendium should engage their subjects comprehensively, neutrally, and objectively to the greatest degree possible in a well-written narrative, complementing text with other suitable media.
#No Citizen may serve in two offices at the same time, except that a Citizen may sit on an appeals board while holding another office.
*Citizendium material is intended for the general public and should be constructed so as to avoid unnecessarily complicated presentation and to maximize accessibility.
#Any member of the Citizendium Council may resign at any time for any reason. The resignation may be made publicly or privately to the Council. The resignation becomes effective the moment that the Chair of the Citizendium Council accepts the resignation and announces the acceptance of the resignation in the official Council Forums. The moment that a resignation is formalized in that manner, that office is thereby vacant and must be filled according to the Charter.
*Specialist material — including original research — is welcome if contextualized through prominent links to entries that provide background information and related non-specialist material. 
*As far as possible, special requirements of visually or otherwise impaired users and for responsibly exercised automated access shall be taken into account.
*Exceptionally, Editors and Constables have the authority to intervene at their discretion if article content appears to be inappropriate. This applies in particular if content is inconsistent with criminal or civil law or discriminatory or slanderous against persons or groups of persons, on the basis of religion, religious belief, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender. Such decisions are subject to Citizendium's appeal process.
*Citizendium is not a place for advocacy, advertisement or sensationalism.


== Organizational structure ==
=== General principles ===


*Citizendium is devoted to transparent and fair governance at a minimum of bureaucracy.
===Article 30===
*There shall be two governing boards: An Editorial Council responsible for guiding content and establishing content policy and a Management Committee responsible for matters concerned with the non-content policies of Citizendium.
*All Citizens in good standing and with sufficient experience — as defined by the Management Committee — shall be entitled to hold an office as a member of the Editorial Council or the Management Committee, or as a Constable or Ombudsman.
*No Citizen may hold two such offices at the same time.
*Further special roles shall not be created without excellent reason.
*Any definition of a special role shall include provisions for replacement should the incumbent become temporarily or permanently unavailable.
*Each board or official may appoint delegates to perform specific tasks for a specific period of time, who will report to it.
*The responsibility for the actions of a delegate shall always remain with the appointing board or official.


=== Rules common to the Editorial Council and the Management Committee ===
Elections and referenda shall be organized by the Citizendium Council and carried out by the Election Committee, with the following conditions:
The board shall
#Two weeks shall be provided for nominations and for discussions of the issues brought about during the nomination period.
*have a quorum corresponding to the simple majority of its members.
#Elections shall be open for a period of not less than seven days. The duration of the election period shall be determined by the Citizendium Council.
*consider any issue brought in front of it by any of its members or by a number of Citizens that meets its quorum.
#Election results shall be certified by the Citizendium Council not more than 2 days after the close of the election.
*develop guidelines on matters within its scope, and publish and monitor the appropriate enforcement of those guidelines.
#Each Citizen in good standing — as defined by the Citizendium Council — shall be entitled to one vote.
#The nature of the ballot shall be determined by the Citizendium Council, provided that any method adopted must be accessible and usable by every Citizen.


The board may
*propose a change of its size by an even number of members — this proposal shall be subject to a referendum held together with the next election.


Members of the board shall
===Article 31===
*be elected by secret ballot vote of active Citizens, with two-year renewable terms.
*remain active contributors to the project throughout their terms.


=== Specific rules ===
An official may be recalled by two thirds vote of the Citizendium Council.


*In the Editorial Council, a number of seats corresponding to the quorum shall be reserved for Editors.
*The Management Committee shall appoint Constables and confer with the constabulary on matters of Constable activity.
*The Ombudsman shall be jointly nominated by both boards and confirmed by popular vote, for a term of 2 years, renewable.


==Managing Editor==
== Part IV: Community policy ==


*A Managing Editor, drawn from the list of Editors, shall be appointed for a period of two years (renewable once) by popular vote.
===Article 32===
*The primary functions of this official are:


#To ensure that the aims and policies of Citizendium (including the provisions of this Charter) are effectively and coherently observed, by means of executive decisions taken on an occasional basis
The Citizendium Council is responsible for content and style policies. In particular, it shall
#To make provisional policy decisions in the case of policy deficits and where the situation clearly requires a short-term response
#make all decisions regarding the content of the Citizendium;
#To assist the institutions of Citizendium in the development and enactment of policy, as they may request
#establish the qualifications for Editors and establish the procedure for promoting Citizens to Editor status, provided that such qualifications and such procedures do not violate any article of this charter;
#To represent Citizendium in its relations with external bodies (such as the mass media, academic and non-academic institutions, inter alia), in cooperation with and according to the policies determined by the Boards.
#coordinate and supervise the Editors and their activities;
#encourage and supervise development and organization of the Citizendium's content;
#adjudicate disputes over content among Authors, Editors, and/or Managing Editor, and impose its decisions upon the content of the Citizendium;
#publicly set its own rules and by-laws for its meetings.


===Selection and election mechanism===


*The Management Committee will compile a list of suitable candidates from popular nominations by Citizens two months prior to the end of the incumbent's tenure or two weeks after announcement of an early termination.
===Article 33===
*The list of candidates shall not exceed four persons; all Citizens may vote; the appointment will be made by simple majority of validly cast votes.


===Deputy Managing Editor===
The Citizendium Council shall enforce its decisions over content by reporting violations of its dispute resolutions to the Moderators. Failure to abide by the decisions of the Citizendium Council pursuant to the resolution of a dispute shall be considered a behavioral infraction and subject to action by a Moderator. 


*If desired, the Managing Editor may nominate a deputy to serve in case of absence, illness or to attend to specific duties that fall within the mandate of the Managing Editor post.
*The deputy is accountable to the Managing Editor personally, but the appointment can be terminated by the Managing Editor or the two committees, as specified below.


===Modus operandi===
===Article 34===


In the pursuit of duties, as defined above, the Managing Editor shall observe the following principles:
The Citizendium Council is responsible for the technical and economic resources of the Citizendium and its related websites.  In particular, it shall:
#make all the financial and legal decisions for the Citizendium;
#develop all rules of civility and behavior for participation on the Citizendium which shall apply equally to all Citizens regardless of status or position, adjudicate alleged violations of the rules, and impose sanctions for violations of the rules;
#administer "User Rights" as defined by the software;
#where necessary, develop operational procedures to implement the powers and institutions of this charter;
#appoint and supervise the activities of Moderators;
#conduct elections and certify the results of elections;
#publicly set its own rules and by-laws for its meetings;
#manage technical matters (software and hardware); 
#establish and maintain public awareness of the Citizendium; and
#invite and establish collaboration with external partners on any matters relevant to the Citizendium's mission.


#Decisions on content should be made, wherever possible, by Editors with appropriate expertise
#Executive and policy decisions should normally be undertaken in consultation with the Editorial Council and Management Committee; exceptions can be justified on the grounds of emergency need and trivial matters that nevertheless require response
#Matters of external relations involving policy development should be undertaken after consultation of the appropriate Citizendium bodies — i.e. the Editorial Council, the Management Committee, the Constabulary and the Ombudsman — according to the issues under discussion. Contact with the press should not normally require such prior consultation, as long as policy exists on the matter at hand.


===Limitations of power===
===Article 35===


*Actions of the Managing Editor are subject to review by the Constabulary (for personal conduct) and by the Ombudsman (for professional conduct).
The Council shall
*Decisions made by the Managing Editor will ultimately be subject to review by the Editorial Council and/or the Management Committee, according to their specific competencies.
*The committees may choose to endorse or revoke such decisions, amending formal CZ policy accordingly.
*Appeal against any ruling of the Managing Editor may be made by persons with 'legal standing' in the matter, directly to either or both of the Editorial Council and Management Committee.


*In extremis, where both the committees are of the view that the Managing Editor (or the deputy) has not carried out his/her duties adequately, by decision of a simple majority of votes in both committees in quorum, the appointment will be terminated and new elections arranged for this post.
#have a quorum corresponding to the simple majority of its members;
#develop written guidelines to define and explain methods of communicating with the Council, including a mechanism that allows Citizens to petition the Council;
#be empowered to appoint delegates to perform specific tasks for a specific period of time (not more than two years) provided that the responsibility for the actions of a delegate shall always remain with the Council;
#have power to adjudicate content and behavior disputes in their core competency;
#have power to impose sanctions on Citizens for violations of rules.  


==Behavior and dispute resolution==
===Constabulary===
*The Constabulary shall be charged with upholding Citizendium's rules of behavior as determined by community policy, covering all Citizens including those with official positions. 
*The Constabulary's authority is restricted to matters of behavior and they shall not intervene in matters of content. 
*The enforcement of these rules is to be carried out with reasonable pragmatism and leniency without prejudice as to Citizen status or position and only in those situations where the applicability of existing rules is clear. 
*The tools available to the Constabulary shall be defined by the Management Committee and include, as an ultimate resort, the banning of users. 
*The Constabulary may develop additional tools and shall publish and monitor the appropriate use of said tools and report on it to the Management Committee. 
*Decisions of constables may be appealed through the appropriate adjudication process as determined by the Management Committee.


===Ombudsman===
===Article 36===
*An Ombudsman shall be appointed, charged with the task of assisting in dispute resolution, as laid down in this Charter. 
*The role of Ombudsman shall be vested in a Citizen with substantial Citizendium experience and widely respected judgment, who may appoint up to two other Citizens (Assistant Ombudsmen) to support his/her work; their appointment and termination of duties is at the personal discretion of the Ombudsman.


===Dispute resolution===
*The Managing Editor has the following duties:
*Disputes shall be settled at the lowest possible level, such as by bringing in peer Editors or Constables. 
#to ensure by means of executive decisions that the principles and policies of the Citizendium are effectively and coherently observed; such decisions shall be based on established policy where defined;  
*If satisfactory resolution is not obtained, the Ombudsman may be contacted for non-binding mediation. Should that fail, the matter shall be appealed to the appropriate body — the Editorial Council for content matters and the Management Committee for behavioral or administrative matters.  As a last resort, both Councils may appoint members to an ad hoc arbitration panel, for final arbitration as defined below.
#to make interim decisions on behalf of the Citizendium Council when established policy does not provide guidance; these decisions shall be overridden by the establishment of relevant policy;
*In the event of a dispute that cannot be resolved at a level below that of the Editorial Council or the Management Committee, appeals boards may be constituted on an ad hoc basis. The ad hoc appeals board shall consist of three members nominated by the Editorial Council and three members nominated by the Management Committee, who shall not have been involved in the specific dispute.  An Ombudsman shall preside; that official shall direct the Board and shall be non-voting other than to possess a tie-breaking vote.  Should no Ombudsman be available who is not a party to the matter, the Councils shall appoint a special presider from the Citizenry.
#to represent the Citizendium in its relations with external bodies, such as the mass media, and academic or non-academic institutions;
*All decisions of the ad hoc appeals board are final. Further, either the Management Committee or the Editorial Council may decline to participate in an ad hoc appeal, in which case the decision of the last appeal shall be final.
#to offer guidance on existing policy and its interpretation to help resolve disputes; to advise the Council; and settle disputes including imposing interim solutions pending relevant policy decisions. Throughout, the Managing Editor's guidance is expected to be in accord with the established principles and policies of Citizendium, and particularly with the Charter. The Managing Editor is available to mediate any dispute. The Managing Editor mediates a dispute when requested by all involved parties or when requested by the Moderator-in-Chief. Agreements worked out through mediation shall be binding but may be appealed.
*The dispute resolution shall take place in a way that allows every interested Citizen to follow the entire process. In exceptional cases, part of the process can be restricted to a smaller audience. These exceptions require public justification by the Ombudsman, which may be contested by any member of the Management Committee or the Editorial Council that is not involved in the dispute.  
*No decision reached in the course of dispute resolution shall contravene this Charter.


== Community decisions ==


*Elections and referenda shall be organized by the Managing Committee and carried out by the Constabulary.
===Article 37===
*Sufficient time shall be provided for nominations and for discussions of the issues brought about during the nomination period.


=== Referenda and amendments ===
Referenda may be initiated in two ways:
#Any Citizen may petition the Citizendium Council that contested rules or guidelines be submitted to a referendum.  The Council must have jurisdiction over the contested matter.  The Council may, by simple majority vote, submit the referendum to a vote of the citizenry at the next regular election.
#A referendum may be initiated by a group of Citizens corresponding in size to 20 percent of the number of voters in the previous election.  The Citizendium Council must include a valid citizen-initiated referendum in the next regular election.  Failure to do so will automatically pass the referendum which shall then become official policy and enforceable.  This charter may not be amended by a failure of the Citizendium Council to submit a referendum to a vote.


*Citizens may demand that contested rules or guidelines are submitted to a referendum.
Furthermore:
*A referendum may be initiated by a group of Citizens corresponding in size to the sum of the quorums of the Editorial Council and the Management Committee.  
*A referendum must be written as enforceable rules or guidelines.
*A referendum shall be decided by simple majority of the votes validly cast.
*A referendum shall be decided by simple majority of the votes validly cast by the citizenry during a regular election.
*Any amendment to and any change of this Charter shall require a referendum and shall be ratified if accepted by a qualified majority of two thirds of the votes validly cast.
*Any amendment to and any change of this Charter shall require a referendum and shall be ratified if accepted by a qualified majority of two thirds of the votes validly cast.
*Any change of the license shall require a referendum.
== Part V: Behavior and dispute resolution ==
===Article 38===
The Moderator Group shall enforce the Citizendium's rules of behavior as determined by the Citizendium Council, which shall apply equally to all Citizens regardless of status or position, including Editors and those with official positions. In particular, Moderators
#shall not intervene in matters of content, and
#shall act with reasonable pragmatism and leniency, and only in those situations where a behavioral dispute is clearly covered by existing rules.
#Moderators shall have power to block citizens' access to the Citizendium.
#Any act of the Moderators may be appealed to the Citizendium Council.
===Article 40===
*Whenever possible, disputes shall be settled informally at the lowest possible level by subject matter Editors. Specifically, the following shall apply:
# Any party involved in a dispute may contact the Managing Editor for assistance in dispute resolution.
# When a formal decision on content disputes or disputes involving violation of the rules is necessary or demanded, the Managing Editor shall facilitate the presentation of the issue to the Citizendium Council.
# All Citizens shall have the right to a fair hearing, which shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: the opportunity to present one's case in one's defense, the right to be heard by a fair and unprejudiced body, the right to have others offer testimony on one's behalf.
# The Citizendium Council may impose sanctions that result in blocking a citizen's access to Citizendium, removing or altering content, or terminating the citizen. The Citizendium Council may from time to time devise additional sanctions as appropriate.
#Citizens shall not have arbitrary or excessive sanctions imposed upon them.
===Article 41===
Appeals of formal decisions shall be possible when a disputant can show an Appeals Board that either:
#New information is available; or
#A technical error was made during the previous formal procedure.
===Article 42===
* An Appeals Board shall consist of Citizens who were not previously directly involved, as follows:
# two members appointed by the Citizendium Council, and
# the Managing Editor or his/her designee.


=== Editorial Council and Managing Committee ===


*Each year, half the members of the Editorial Council and the Management Committee shall be elected.
===Article 43===
*For newly elected members, the term of office shall begin on first of January for the Editorial Council, and on first of July for the Management Committee.
*Any Citizen may nominate one or more candidates for a board.
*A nominated Citizen whose nomination is supported by another Citizen becomes a candidate by accepting the nomination  and thus declaring the intention to serve for the whole term.
*Any Citizen accepting a nomination shall retreat immediately from any involvement in the election's organization.
*The candidates collecting the most votes shall be elected.
*One to three runners-up may serve as reserve members.
*A board member who becomes inactive or unavailable, shall be replaced by a reserve member, if available; otherwise, the an interim replacement shall be appointed by the board concerned.
*Any board may propose a change of its size by an even number of members; this proposal shall be subject to a referendum held together with the next election.


=== Removal from office ===
An Appeals Board may render one of three decisions: it may decide that the disputant does not have new information or that the Citizendium Council made no technical error and deny a re-hearing; it may affirm the Citizendium Council's decision, in spite of new information or technical error; or it may recognize that new information, a technical error, or both has placed the Citizendium Council's decision in error and remand the case to the Citizendium Council for rehearing. If the case has been remanded for re-hearing, it is expected that the Citizendium Council revise its judgment in light of the appeal.


*An official who seriously neglects the office may be recalled by the Combined Board, with exception of an Ombudsman, whose recall shall require a qualified majority of two thirds in a referendum.


== Administrative matters ==
===Article 44===
===External partners===
*Citizendium invites collaboration with non-Citizen partners on any matters relevant to the project's mission.
*The Management Committee shall oversee these activities, collaborating with the Editorial Council on matters of content.


===License===
* The Citizendium Council shall create a procedure allowing for dispute resolution to be heard privately. Privately heard disputes forfeit their right to appeal on technical grounds, although an appeal will still be possible upon discovery of new information.
*All content at Citizendium shall always be free.
* In some cases, either at the discretion of the adjudicating council or at the request of a disputant, part of a public dispute resolution process may be removed from public view. Such an exception shall require public justification by the Managing Editor.
*Content originating at Citizendium shall also be free to reuse and redistribute.  
*Reusable content that originated elsewhere may be incorporated into Citizendium.


===Legal status===
*Citizendium shall be owned and controlled by the Citizendium Foundation, a non-profit organization.


===Time and date===
== Part VI: Administrative matters ==
*Unless otherwise specified, all announcements concerning times and dates shall be in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).


===Languages===
===Article 45===


*The official language of Citizendium shall be English. 
All Citizens, regardless of position or status, shall be bound by this Charter including its amendments, and no referendum or decision of the Citizendium Council or any official shall contravene it.
*Branches in other languages require approval by the Management Committee and have to accept the spirit and the fundamental principles of Citizendium as defined by an approved translation of this Charter.
*The branches shall establish a close collaboration with each other on all issues, both of content and administration.


== Appendix: Ratification and transition ==
In cases where local, regional, national, or international law voids or limits clauses of this charter or its amendments, all other clauses of this charter and its amendments shall still be effectual and be implemented consistent with law.


: ''This appendix defines the ratification process for this Charter and the transition to its implementation.'' <br> ''It does not belong to the Charter proper and shall be removed after the transition has been performed.''


===Ratification===
===Article 46===
*If this Charter has been ratified by two thirds or more of the votes validly cast in a referendum for this purpose, it shall be certified by the Editor-in-Chief within a week after the closing of the referendum. 
*For future amendments, a certifying official or officials shall be agreed upon by the joint Management Committee and Editorial Council.


===Entry into force===
Material originating at Citizendium shall always be free to use, reuse, and redistribute &mdash; subject only, at most, to the requirement that those who reuse Citizendium content acknowledge the source of the material and make derivative works equally free to use, reuse, and redistribute. The Citizendium Council has the right to upgrade the license version on behalf of contributors, but any change in license type must be ratified through public referendum. The licensing of content incorporated from elsewhere shall follow the conditions stipulated by the respective copyright owners. For all material, the applicable copyright license shall be clearly stated.
*This Charter shall enter into force on the day following ratification.


===Addendum: Interim guidance for the transition period===


*As long as the administrative prerequisites for implementing the charter are not entirely fulfilled, the rules listed in this section shall provide interim guidance to the Editorial Council, Management Council, and other bodies.
===Article 47===
*Such material may be modified by those bodies by their normal procedures, without a full Charter amendment.


====Elections to the Editorial Council and Management Committee====
The Citizendium Council shall elaborate a strategy and policy on handling the establishment of branches in languages other than English. This must include the establishment of (1) governance structures parallel to those codified in this charter for each new branch and (2) a democratic system for decision-making across branches.
*The first election shall take place as soon as possible after the Charter has been ratified.  
*The initial size of the Editorial Council shall be 7 members, that of the Management Committee 5 members.
*A number of members corresponding to the quorum shall be selected, by lot or personal agreement, to serve shortened terms until the next regular election that is at least half a year after the initial election.


====Voting rights====
*For the purpose of ratification of this charter and elections to the Editorial Council and the Management Committee, all Citizens with an account that is not blocked shall be considered as being in good standing.


====Review of previous policies====
===Article 48===
*The Editorial Council and the Management Committee shall review all existing policies and vote on each of them which falls under their realm, in view of complementing the general guidelines in this charter with an evolving set of specific policy guidelines.


====Constabulary====
*No official of the Citizendium &mdash; including any member of the Citizendium Council, Moderator Group, or Managing Editor, who are volunteers &mdash; shall be personally liable to the Citizendium or its members for monetary damages for a breach of the officials' fiduciary duties provided that the breach is not the result of
#Acts not done or omissions not occurring in good faith;
#Acts involving misconduct or a knowing violation of law;
#Acts for which the official derived an improper personal benefit;
#Acts done or omissions occurring before the adoption of this charter; or
#Gross negligence.


*Constabulary tools include: advice and instruction on wiki or through Citizen email, removal of offensive text, and warning and banning of users.
*No Citizen shall be personally liable for the monetary liabilities of or judgments against the Citizendium unless the Citizen has been shown to have authored libelous or slanderous content, or to have committed other acts, resulting in judgment or damages against the Citizendium.


====Languages====
*The Management Committee shall elaborate a strategy and policy on handling the establishment of branches in languages other than English.


====Administration====
== Part VII: Transitional measures ==
*The Management Committee shall elaborate a strategy and policy on handling the legal, financial, and technical operations necessary for the project to fulfill its mission.


====External partnerships====
===Article 49===
The Management Committee shall develop and implement at its earliest convenience a policy for
*interested external observers to provide feedback on Citizendium content in a manner convenient for them and the project.
*collaboration with external partners, paying particular attention to fostering the collaboration with instructors by way of [[CZ:Eduzendium|Eduzendium]], and with external experts or professional organizations for the purposes of providing or reviewing content at Citizendium.


====Research and teaching====
The former Editor-in-Chief Larry Sanger shall be awarded with the honorary title Founding Editor-in-Chief in acknowledgement of his achievements for the Citizendium.
*The Editorial Council shall elaborate a strategy and policy on incorporation of teaching and research into Citizendium.
*Research results that have not been formally published should be clearly labeled as such. So should articles that have been part of student coursework.


====Registration of new Editors====
To streamline the [[CZ:Editor Application Review Procedure]], applications for Editorship shall be processed in two consecutive steps:
*All verified Editor applicants shall initially be registered as Authors, enabling them to start contributing while the application is being reviewed.
*The application for Editorship shall be reviewed by the [[:Category:CZ Editorial Personnel Administrators|Editorial Personnel Administrators]] (to be appointed by the Editorial Council) who shall strive to make a decision within one week.


====Pseudonyms====
===Article 50===
*Within a month after the entry into force of this charter, all existing pseudonym accounts shall be closed by the Constabulary, and the respective user pages protected.
*The Citizens concerned may reapply under their real name.


----
In the event that the election and/or referenda do not produce a functional Council, or at any point in the future the membership of the Council falls below a quorum and not enough seats are subsequently filled on an interim basis, the following emergency procedure shall come into effect and in so doing over-rule any other parts of the Charter that it contradicts:
----
<center> <BIG>'''The following text is auxiliary to the drafting process and will be deleted from the final draft.'''</BIG></center>
----
----


==Proposed changes==
#If the office of Managing Editor is vacant or is about to expire and cannot be filled by election, any Editor in good standing may be appointed for renewable two-year terms by the Council or Governing Board as established in (3) below, or by consensus among previous Council members.
''In this section, members of the Drafting Committee may suggest changes to the draft, taking into account feedback received during the consultation phase. Any of these changes can be implemented by any member of the Committee, provided that at least two other Committee members have expressed consent here or in the internal email. Possible disputes resulting from this procedure will be resolved via email.''
#The Managing Editor shall establish a moratorium on all future elections and independent Council activity, to remain in effect until the Citizendium has acquired at least 175 active users and at least 90 days have passed. (The Citizendium considers an "active user" as a user who, in the twelve months preceding consideration of ending the moratorium, has edited the main wiki at least six days per month for at least eight of those twelve months, or a user who regularly works on behalf of Citizendium whether they edit the main wiki or not (e.g., actively participating Council members, technical staff, PR-activists.)
*Copyediting for coherent style, as per [http://forum.citizendium.org/index.php/topic,3085.msg27733.html#msg27733 this forum post].
#During the moratorium, the Citizendium's governance shall consist of an interim Citizendium Council, called "The Citizendium Governing Board", chaired by the Managing Editor and comprising five members who will serve for two years, or fewer if the moratorium on elections terminates.
:I agree. --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 23:02, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
#For the initial board, the Managing Editor shall call for volunteers, choosing four, requesting ratification from the Citizenry through an official, public mailing list. Any volunteer who receives more than three 'nays' will require replacement by another on the volunteer list. Nay-votes shall be submitted to a Moderator by email.
*Include a statement about privacy of contributions made to public parts of the site. --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 08:29, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
#Once the moratorium ends, the Council shall be re-established in accordance with the Charter. Any Council members shall be invited to resume duties if still within their terms of office and the Governing Board shall be dissolved once it has organised an election to fill any vacant seats and certified the results.
:Further details in [http://forum.citizendium.org/index.php/topic,3113.msg28263.html#msg28263 this forum thread]. --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 08:58, 2 May 2010 (UTC)
*Check remaining points at [[CZ:Charter drafting/Feedback]]. --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 08:29, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
*Once we have agreed on a final text, what about adding some wikilinks? They could either point to the main namespace if the term is used in its usual way, or to a dedicated page in the CZ namespace when it has a CZ-specific meaning. --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 22:57, 15 April 2010 (UTC)
*Under [[#Membership]]: "All members<s> register and</s> contribute to the project under their real names." This would allow for, say, [[User:CIS 700 Special Topics 2010 Student 1]] to contribute to [[CZ:CIS 700 Special Topics 2010]] under their real name (which the course instructor would know, and possibly the constabulary too) without registering as such, if they so choose and the instructor agrees. --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 11:53, 27 April 2010 (UTC)
:[http://forum.citizendium.org/index.php/topic,2477.msg25283.html#msg25283 Forum discussion on this]. --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 19:16, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Latest revision as of 09:55, 11 December 2022


The information on the page below is likely OBSOLETE
At least some of this information applied to an older way of operating
The wiki's policies and rules are now linked to the main page at Welcome_to_Citizendium.
The following information is not current. Older practices became guidance only after 15th November 2016, when the Citizendium project's last set of voted-on policies came into effect. Now that participation in the wiki is low, our current rules are finalized by the managing editor after listening carefully to participants and advisors. Changes may be suggested and discussed through in the forums.

Preamble

The Citizendium is a collaborative effort to collect, structure, and cultivate knowledge and to render it conveniently accessible to the public for free. It is built online by volunteers who contribute under their real names and agree to this social covenant centered around trust.


Part I: Citizenship and Editorship

Article 1

Registered users shall be referred to as Citizens.


Article 2

All persons who apply for a Citizendium account shall do so under their real name and according to other criteria that may be established by the Citizendium Council. Application process shall be defined by the Citizendium Council. Participants in Citizendium agree to abide by this charter and other terms of participation as established by the Citizendium Council.


Article 3

Citizens shall not have their application to join or their use of the site blocked or terminated on the basis of their nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, creed, gender, sexuality, profession, education, politics, residence, age, name, or URL. Nor shall any official or governing body of the Citizendium discriminate in favor or against Citizens (except to the degree that such discrimination promotes editorial expertise), or any dispute be resolved, on the basis of any of these criteria.


Article 4

The Citizendium community shall recognize the special role that experts play in defining content standards in their relevant fields and in guiding content development towards reliability and quality.


Article 5

Citizens shall act responsibly and in a civil manner: derogatory or offensive language or behavior will not be tolerated. Citizens who interfere with another Citizen's rights as delineated by this Charter or who violate rules established by the Citizendium Council shall be subject to administrative action upon complaint of the aggrieved Citizen, the punishment of which may include, but is not limited to, suspension from the Citizendium for a period of time, or permanent expulsion. Other administrative actions may be established by the Citizendium Council.


Article 6

Citizens shall mutually respect their competency regarding any of their contributions.


Article 7

All Citizens shall be equal and no special privileges shall be granted except those granted in this charter to Editors and Officers.


Article 8

1. Each Citizen is assigned a User space and user Talk space bearing his Citizendium user name.

  • These pages are subject to the same copyright license as all other pages contributed to the project,
  • their history shall be preserved and thus they shall not be deleted, but
  • they are not released to be indexed by search engines.

2. Citizens may—within the limits set by the Citizendium Council—freely edit pages in their user space as long as

  • it contains the minimum of biographical information required by the Citizendium Council, and
  • the information needed for administrative purposes,

but inflammatory, derogatory, or illegal material shall be removed by the Moderator Group.

3. User Talk pages shall be open to communications by other Citizens, but may be moderated by their owner.

  • However, discussions of general interest that are not welcomed by the owner must not be blanked, but may be moved to a more suitable place.

4. A Citizen who wishes to retire from the Citizendium (whether for a period of time or forever)

  • may replace his User page and his user Talk page by a page carrying only a notice of his withdrawal, except that
  • Editors must retain the minimum information required by the Citizendium Council.
  • Exceptionally, a User page may be deleted rather than simply blanked on request if the Citizen has never been active on the project.


Article 9

All Citizens shall be treated fairly and respectfully by other Citizens, Editors, and Officers of the Citizendium.


Article 10

In cases of dispute, Citizens have the right to request the help of other Citizens or Editors.


Article 11

Citizens should expect Officers and Editors to be fair and impartial. Biased Officers and Editors shall recuse themselves from their official positions in any dispute resolution process.


Article 12

Dispute resolutions should be resolved on the basis of the evidence and not upon the character, point of view, or politics of the Citizen.


Article 13

Citizens shall not have any decision rendered against them in a dispute resolution process for which they have not had opportunity to have their say.


Article 14

Editors are Citizens whose expertise in some field of knowledge is recognized and formally acknowledged by the community. Official recognition of expertise — obtained through education or experience — and its scope shall be based on guidelines established by the Citizendium Council.


Article 15

Editors shall assure the quality of the Citizendium's approved content. They shall review and evaluate articles and shall have the right to

  1. approve high-quality articles that treat their topic adequately;
  2. resolve disputes over specific content matters when requested;
  3. enforce style and content guidelines as established by the Citizendium Council; and
  4. identify for discussion incorrect or poorly presented content.


Article 16

Any change in Editor status shall require a formal decision by the Citizendium Council and may be appealed.


Part II: Content and style

Article 17

The Citizendium Council shall be empowered to develop policy on content and style.


Article 18

The Citizendium shall welcome contributions in all fields of knowledge.


Article 19

All articles shall treat their subjects comprehensively, neutrally, and objectively to the greatest degree possible in a well-written narrative, complementing text with other suitable material and media.


Article 20

Specialist material—including original research—shall be welcome within limits set by the Citizendium Council. Specialist material shall be put into context with background information and non-specialist material.


Article 21

As far as possible, special requirements of visually or otherwise impaired users and of responsibly exercised automated access shall be taken into account. Appropriate policies shall be developed when needed by the Citizendium Council.


Article 22

Articles formally judged to be of high quality by editors shall be designated "approved", protected and kept permanently available.


Article 23

The Citizendium shall remain free of advocacy, advertisement and sensationalism.


Part III: Organization and offices

See also Article 50 (procedure to resolve lack of functioning governance)

Article 24

The Citizendium shall be devoted to transparent and fair governance with a minimum of bureaucracy. It shall have one governing council: the Citizendium Council, and two ancillary positions: Managing Editor, Moderator Group.


Article 25

Section One: Election Cycle

  1. Each year, half the members of the Council shall be elected. Elections for the Citizendium Council shall be completed by June 21 of each calendar year.
  2. Elections shall be run by an "Election Committee" appointed by the Citizendium Council. Any citizen, including officials but excepting nominees, may serve on the elections committee. If the Council fail to appoint an Election Committee, the Managing Editor shall do so, failing whom also, the Moderator Group shall do so. The Committee shall comprise at least two members. Committee members shall be Citizens who do not hold Council seats or any other elected office. Appointees to other offices may serve.
  3. The Election Committee shall maintain all nomination and ballot pages on the Citizendium.
  4. For newly elected members, the term of office shall begin on the first of July for the Citizendium Council.

Section Two: Nominations

  1. Any Citizen may nominate and/or support one or more candidates for the Council.
  2. A Citizen who is supported by another Citizen becomes a candidate by declaring the intention to serve for the whole term.
  3. Election Committee members shall be ineligible for nomination in the election. If a member resigns, the Council may appoint a replacement.

Section Three: Elections

  1. The candidates collecting the most votes shall be elected.
  2. A Council member who resigns or becomes inactive or unavailable for a period of 90 days or more shall be replaced either by election or by a vote of the Council only.
  3. A vacant council member seat shall be filled within 90 days of the vacancy. If a normal election does not fall within this period, the Citizendium Council shall call a special election or vote to fill the seat with an appointed member who shall serve until the next regularly-scheduled election.
  4. A special election is organized exactly as a regularly scheduled election, except the number of positions to be filled equals the number of Council vacancies.
  5. Interim appointees to the Council must be approved by vote of the Council and may serve only until the next regularly-scheduled election.
  6. Any Council-appointed election results auditor may not be a candidate, a member of the Election Committee or a member of the Council.

Section Four: Council Size

  1. The Council may propose a change of its size by an even number of members; this proposal shall be subject to a referendum held together with the next election. If passed, the new seats shall be filled by special election.
  2. A Council member may request a temporary leave of absence. Such leaves shall not exceed 120 days in a year. The temporary vacancy shall be filled with a citizen in good standing chosen by the Council. The term of this appointment shall equal the term of the temporary leave.
  3. If, through resignations or simultaneous expiration of 90 day inactivity, Citizendium Council membership falls below a quorum, the Managing Editor shall fill one seat on a temporary basis as a voting member. The Citizendium Council shall be devoted to the task of establishing an Election Committee for the purpose of holding an election, or alternatively to vote to fill the seat(s) with (an) appointed member(s) who shall serve until the next regularly-scheduled election.
  4. If, through resignation or 90 days' inactivity, the office of Managing Editor becomes vacant, the Citizendium Council shall either appoint an Election Committee to fill the office via an election, or vote to appoint an Editor who shall serve until the next regularly-scheduled election.

Article 26

The Managing Editor shall be elected by a simple majority of the voting citizenry during the same election period as the Citizendium Council. Any Editor in good standing may be nominated for the position, and all valid, accepted nominations must appear on the ballot.


Article 27

Moderators shall be appointed by the Citizendium Council. The Citizendium Council shall determine the number of Moderators. Any Citizen in good standing shall be eligible for the Moderator Group. The Citizendium Council shall appoint one Moderator as Moderator-in-Chief.


Article 29

All official posts shall be subject to the following conditions:

  1. The term of office shall be two years, renewable. The term of any replacement shall end when the original term ends.
  2. No Citizen may serve in two offices at the same time, except that a Citizen may sit on an appeals board while holding another office.
  3. Any member of the Citizendium Council may resign at any time for any reason. The resignation may be made publicly or privately to the Council. The resignation becomes effective the moment that the Chair of the Citizendium Council accepts the resignation and announces the acceptance of the resignation in the official Council Forums. The moment that a resignation is formalized in that manner, that office is thereby vacant and must be filled according to the Charter.


Article 30

Elections and referenda shall be organized by the Citizendium Council and carried out by the Election Committee, with the following conditions:

  1. Two weeks shall be provided for nominations and for discussions of the issues brought about during the nomination period.
  2. Elections shall be open for a period of not less than seven days. The duration of the election period shall be determined by the Citizendium Council.
  3. Election results shall be certified by the Citizendium Council not more than 2 days after the close of the election.
  4. Each Citizen in good standing — as defined by the Citizendium Council — shall be entitled to one vote.
  5. The nature of the ballot shall be determined by the Citizendium Council, provided that any method adopted must be accessible and usable by every Citizen.


Article 31

An official may be recalled by two thirds vote of the Citizendium Council.


Part IV: Community policy

Article 32

The Citizendium Council is responsible for content and style policies. In particular, it shall

  1. make all decisions regarding the content of the Citizendium;
  2. establish the qualifications for Editors and establish the procedure for promoting Citizens to Editor status, provided that such qualifications and such procedures do not violate any article of this charter;
  3. coordinate and supervise the Editors and their activities;
  4. encourage and supervise development and organization of the Citizendium's content;
  5. adjudicate disputes over content among Authors, Editors, and/or Managing Editor, and impose its decisions upon the content of the Citizendium;
  6. publicly set its own rules and by-laws for its meetings.


Article 33

The Citizendium Council shall enforce its decisions over content by reporting violations of its dispute resolutions to the Moderators. Failure to abide by the decisions of the Citizendium Council pursuant to the resolution of a dispute shall be considered a behavioral infraction and subject to action by a Moderator.


Article 34

The Citizendium Council is responsible for the technical and economic resources of the Citizendium and its related websites. In particular, it shall:

  1. make all the financial and legal decisions for the Citizendium;
  2. develop all rules of civility and behavior for participation on the Citizendium which shall apply equally to all Citizens regardless of status or position, adjudicate alleged violations of the rules, and impose sanctions for violations of the rules;
  3. administer "User Rights" as defined by the software;
  4. where necessary, develop operational procedures to implement the powers and institutions of this charter;
  5. appoint and supervise the activities of Moderators;
  6. conduct elections and certify the results of elections;
  7. publicly set its own rules and by-laws for its meetings;
  8. manage technical matters (software and hardware);
  9. establish and maintain public awareness of the Citizendium; and
  10. invite and establish collaboration with external partners on any matters relevant to the Citizendium's mission.


Article 35

The Council shall

  1. have a quorum corresponding to the simple majority of its members;
  2. develop written guidelines to define and explain methods of communicating with the Council, including a mechanism that allows Citizens to petition the Council;
  3. be empowered to appoint delegates to perform specific tasks for a specific period of time (not more than two years) provided that the responsibility for the actions of a delegate shall always remain with the Council;
  4. have power to adjudicate content and behavior disputes in their core competency;
  5. have power to impose sanctions on Citizens for violations of rules.


Article 36

  • The Managing Editor has the following duties:
  1. to ensure by means of executive decisions that the principles and policies of the Citizendium are effectively and coherently observed; such decisions shall be based on established policy where defined;
  2. to make interim decisions on behalf of the Citizendium Council when established policy does not provide guidance; these decisions shall be overridden by the establishment of relevant policy;
  3. to represent the Citizendium in its relations with external bodies, such as the mass media, and academic or non-academic institutions;
  4. to offer guidance on existing policy and its interpretation to help resolve disputes; to advise the Council; and settle disputes including imposing interim solutions pending relevant policy decisions. Throughout, the Managing Editor's guidance is expected to be in accord with the established principles and policies of Citizendium, and particularly with the Charter. The Managing Editor is available to mediate any dispute. The Managing Editor mediates a dispute when requested by all involved parties or when requested by the Moderator-in-Chief. Agreements worked out through mediation shall be binding but may be appealed.


Article 37

Referenda may be initiated in two ways:

  1. Any Citizen may petition the Citizendium Council that contested rules or guidelines be submitted to a referendum. The Council must have jurisdiction over the contested matter. The Council may, by simple majority vote, submit the referendum to a vote of the citizenry at the next regular election.
  2. A referendum may be initiated by a group of Citizens corresponding in size to 20 percent of the number of voters in the previous election. The Citizendium Council must include a valid citizen-initiated referendum in the next regular election. Failure to do so will automatically pass the referendum which shall then become official policy and enforceable. This charter may not be amended by a failure of the Citizendium Council to submit a referendum to a vote.

Furthermore:

  • A referendum must be written as enforceable rules or guidelines.
  • A referendum shall be decided by simple majority of the votes validly cast by the citizenry during a regular election.
  • Any amendment to and any change of this Charter shall require a referendum and shall be ratified if accepted by a qualified majority of two thirds of the votes validly cast.
  • Any change of the license shall require a referendum.


Part V: Behavior and dispute resolution

Article 38

The Moderator Group shall enforce the Citizendium's rules of behavior as determined by the Citizendium Council, which shall apply equally to all Citizens regardless of status or position, including Editors and those with official positions. In particular, Moderators

  1. shall not intervene in matters of content, and
  2. shall act with reasonable pragmatism and leniency, and only in those situations where a behavioral dispute is clearly covered by existing rules.
  3. Moderators shall have power to block citizens' access to the Citizendium.
  4. Any act of the Moderators may be appealed to the Citizendium Council.


Article 40

  • Whenever possible, disputes shall be settled informally at the lowest possible level by subject matter Editors. Specifically, the following shall apply:
  1. Any party involved in a dispute may contact the Managing Editor for assistance in dispute resolution.
  2. When a formal decision on content disputes or disputes involving violation of the rules is necessary or demanded, the Managing Editor shall facilitate the presentation of the issue to the Citizendium Council.
  3. All Citizens shall have the right to a fair hearing, which shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: the opportunity to present one's case in one's defense, the right to be heard by a fair and unprejudiced body, the right to have others offer testimony on one's behalf.
  4. The Citizendium Council may impose sanctions that result in blocking a citizen's access to Citizendium, removing or altering content, or terminating the citizen. The Citizendium Council may from time to time devise additional sanctions as appropriate.
  5. Citizens shall not have arbitrary or excessive sanctions imposed upon them.


Article 41

Appeals of formal decisions shall be possible when a disputant can show an Appeals Board that either:

  1. New information is available; or
  2. A technical error was made during the previous formal procedure.


Article 42

  • An Appeals Board shall consist of Citizens who were not previously directly involved, as follows:
  1. two members appointed by the Citizendium Council, and
  2. the Managing Editor or his/her designee.


Article 43

An Appeals Board may render one of three decisions: it may decide that the disputant does not have new information or that the Citizendium Council made no technical error and deny a re-hearing; it may affirm the Citizendium Council's decision, in spite of new information or technical error; or it may recognize that new information, a technical error, or both has placed the Citizendium Council's decision in error and remand the case to the Citizendium Council for rehearing. If the case has been remanded for re-hearing, it is expected that the Citizendium Council revise its judgment in light of the appeal.


Article 44

  • The Citizendium Council shall create a procedure allowing for dispute resolution to be heard privately. Privately heard disputes forfeit their right to appeal on technical grounds, although an appeal will still be possible upon discovery of new information.
  • In some cases, either at the discretion of the adjudicating council or at the request of a disputant, part of a public dispute resolution process may be removed from public view. Such an exception shall require public justification by the Managing Editor.


Part VI: Administrative matters

Article 45

All Citizens, regardless of position or status, shall be bound by this Charter including its amendments, and no referendum or decision of the Citizendium Council or any official shall contravene it.

In cases where local, regional, national, or international law voids or limits clauses of this charter or its amendments, all other clauses of this charter and its amendments shall still be effectual and be implemented consistent with law.


Article 46

Material originating at Citizendium shall always be free to use, reuse, and redistribute — subject only, at most, to the requirement that those who reuse Citizendium content acknowledge the source of the material and make derivative works equally free to use, reuse, and redistribute. The Citizendium Council has the right to upgrade the license version on behalf of contributors, but any change in license type must be ratified through public referendum. The licensing of content incorporated from elsewhere shall follow the conditions stipulated by the respective copyright owners. For all material, the applicable copyright license shall be clearly stated.


Article 47

The Citizendium Council shall elaborate a strategy and policy on handling the establishment of branches in languages other than English. This must include the establishment of (1) governance structures parallel to those codified in this charter for each new branch and (2) a democratic system for decision-making across branches.


Article 48

  • No official of the Citizendium — including any member of the Citizendium Council, Moderator Group, or Managing Editor, who are volunteers — shall be personally liable to the Citizendium or its members for monetary damages for a breach of the officials' fiduciary duties provided that the breach is not the result of
  1. Acts not done or omissions not occurring in good faith;
  2. Acts involving misconduct or a knowing violation of law;
  3. Acts for which the official derived an improper personal benefit;
  4. Acts done or omissions occurring before the adoption of this charter; or
  5. Gross negligence.
  • No Citizen shall be personally liable for the monetary liabilities of or judgments against the Citizendium unless the Citizen has been shown to have authored libelous or slanderous content, or to have committed other acts, resulting in judgment or damages against the Citizendium.


Part VII: Transitional measures

Article 49

The former Editor-in-Chief Larry Sanger shall be awarded with the honorary title Founding Editor-in-Chief in acknowledgement of his achievements for the Citizendium.


Article 50

In the event that the election and/or referenda do not produce a functional Council, or at any point in the future the membership of the Council falls below a quorum and not enough seats are subsequently filled on an interim basis, the following emergency procedure shall come into effect and in so doing over-rule any other parts of the Charter that it contradicts:

  1. If the office of Managing Editor is vacant or is about to expire and cannot be filled by election, any Editor in good standing may be appointed for renewable two-year terms by the Council or Governing Board as established in (3) below, or by consensus among previous Council members.
  2. The Managing Editor shall establish a moratorium on all future elections and independent Council activity, to remain in effect until the Citizendium has acquired at least 175 active users and at least 90 days have passed. (The Citizendium considers an "active user" as a user who, in the twelve months preceding consideration of ending the moratorium, has edited the main wiki at least six days per month for at least eight of those twelve months, or a user who regularly works on behalf of Citizendium whether they edit the main wiki or not (e.g., actively participating Council members, technical staff, PR-activists.)
  3. During the moratorium, the Citizendium's governance shall consist of an interim Citizendium Council, called "The Citizendium Governing Board", chaired by the Managing Editor and comprising five members who will serve for two years, or fewer if the moratorium on elections terminates.
  4. For the initial board, the Managing Editor shall call for volunteers, choosing four, requesting ratification from the Citizenry through an official, public mailing list. Any volunteer who receives more than three 'nays' will require replacement by another on the volunteer list. Nay-votes shall be submitted to a Moderator by email.
  5. Once the moratorium ends, the Council shall be re-established in accordance with the Charter. Any Council members shall be invited to resume duties if still within their terms of office and the Governing Board shall be dissolved once it has organised an election to fill any vacant seats and certified the results.
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