[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia Leadership (was NY Times article on gender gap in Wikipedia contributors} - repost

[Fred Bauder]

> i see the role of an elected leadership as a supplement to the
> consensus process not a replacement. Basically they should usually be
> there to advise us but when deadlocks happen they would have the
> authority to decide whether or not a minority arguement is strong
> enough to block consensus - in any event a majority is always going to
> be the minimum to go forward with any change and a minority will still
> be able to block a short sighted change - at least long enough that
> they can be heard out and usually much longer. The difference is that
> the minority would no longer have what amounts to a guaranteed veto
> over any change - they would have to convince the community and/or the
> council why sometimig should be blocked. That gives a small minority
> the voice needed to steer us away from huge mistakes and to amend
> proposals through discussion and compromise but the days of a small
> cabal being able to hold the status quo without reasoned argument
> would be over. Consensus still wins.
>

Yes, blocking, by an small group, or even an individual (in other
contexts) is fine IF they have a good argument, especially if it is
obvious others in the discussion don't understand that argument yet. It
should not result in sterile deadlocks though.

I continue to support that kind of council as a promising idea.

Fred