CZ:Editorial Council Rules of Procedure

Council Chair

First, I believe there should be a position of Council Chair. To begin with, I would want to occupy this position, although I will want to hand off the position to someone else--but not until our procedures are well established. I am supposing that the Editor-in-Chief position would be an "executive" one, which can propose rules, but which leaves the bulk of the effort of working the rules out, and putting a stamp of approval on them, to an independent "legislative" body. So I would occupy the Council Chair only in order to get the body started and off on the right foot.

Making proposals

• Any Member may make a proposal on the wiki. Nonmembers may not make proposals, although they may approach a Member with a proposal. Proposals should be listed on a page linked from http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Editorial_Council

• A proposal must be well worked out before it can be placed on the agenda. To ensure that it is well worked out, the proposal must be joined by at least two other Members.

• Each new proposal should have its own wiki page.

• Argumentation about the merits of a proposal is not permitted either on the wiki or on cz-editcouncil until it comes up for discussion. Proposals should not be announced on cz-editcouncil until they are placed on the active discussion agenda.

• The editor-in-chief and chief constable may, in a way to be determined, object to a proposal on grounds of improper purview.

The agenda

• The agenda, populated by proposals, is divided into three sections: queue; discussion; and voting. "Queue" refers to a waiting area for new proposals.

• The Chair’s primary responsibility is to edit the agenda, which is posted on the wiki at http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Editorial_Council
  That is, it’s the Chair’s job to move items from proposals, to the queue, to discussion, to voting.

• In editing the agenda, a set of rules and procedures will be established. For example, there should be minimum time periods established for discussion and voting, and a minimum time that something can reside in the queue before some sort of action can be taken.

• Any Council Member may request a change (addition, deletion, edit of item, or reordering) to the agenda; if the Chair refuses the change, the Member may call a vote. If the call for vote is seconded, then a vote is announced. (Such votes should be very time-limited--a 24 hour vote, say.)

• Alternatively, there might be a committee that either sets, or is authorized to revise, the Chair’s agenda. The Chair would lead such a committee.

• All new business (i.e., an item for discussion or vote) must be announced on cz-editcouncil--not just on the wiki.

Discussion

• "Official" discussion of a proposal ordinarily begins only as follows. A call for comment on the proposal is posted on the cz-editcouncil mailing list--which is made a moderated list. Some specific amount of time is set, such as 48 hours. All comments on the proposal are saved by the moderator until that period elapses; then they are all posted at once. This is to avoid the echo chamber effect I mentioned above: each Member offers his or her initial, non-binding opinion uninfluenced by others. The hope is that we will enjoy the benefits of the full spectrum of opinion on a question.

• Next, three methods of further commentary are used.

• • First, the proposal is posted on the Forums. The proposal may not be posted on the Forums until after the Council has initially weighed in. Members may, but do not have to, contribute to the discussion on the Forums. They are asked, but not required, to read the results.

• • Second, on a single wiki page, each member is given some set, fairly small number of words (specified in the rules) to articulate his or her position on the proposal. Voting members are '''required 'to read this page before voting. Members may revise their statements throughout the discussion period. Nonmembers may not comment on this page. We might set up a distinct page for similarly brief comments from nonmembers, however.

• • Third, any Member may elaborate a larger position statement on a page such as http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Proposal_0014/Sanger_opinion
    These are linked from the proposal page. Voting members are asked, but not required, to read these pages.

• There is no such thing as a filibuster. Some rules analogous to Robert’s Rules, such as a motion to table a question, will be devised--but adapted to mailing lists and/or wikis. Motions are made on the cz-editcouncil mailing list, not on the wiki.

Voting

• A vote can be called only after a proposal has remained for a minimum length of time in discussion.

• Three editors might be able to "call the question" and end discussion, if the Chair has not yet done so.

• Except in rare cases where secret balloting is well-advised, voting takes place on a wiki page. We can simply create two columns, "Yes" and "No" (or whatever the options are), and Members sign their names in the appropriate columns. I think it is important that we not offer comments/justifications on the pages where the voting takes place. We, Council Members, merely sign our names. Nonmembers may not vote.

• Voting is limited by time. There should be a strict minimum of 24 hours for every vote, but more time is permissible. The vote is automatically tallied and reported by the Chair, or someone deputized by the Chair, immediately after the closing time.