[Foundation-l] [WikiEN-l] Wikimedia Board Elections

[Ray Saintonge]

Jimmy Wales wrote:

>geni wrote:
>  
>
>>En is the biggest project by any reasonable metric. Thus it seems
>>reasonable that it sould have a significant say over who ultimately
>>runs it.
>>    
>>
>I don't think anyone would disagree with that, of course.
>
The trouble I had with geni's comment is that I couldn't determine 
whether he meant it descriptively or prescriptively.

As a desciptive comment it makes perfectly good sense, and I can't argue 
against it.

As a prescriptive comment it opens up avenues for the tyranny of the 
majority, and I would be concerned about the absence of checks and 
balances to safeguard minority rights.

>The question is, how to make sure that people in smaller language 
>projects have a proper voice.  It is not trivial to do this in a 
>sensible way.
>
Absolutely, especially when the size disparities are so great.  This is 
why I would start from the prionciple of project autonomy.  In 
international affairs being a nation-state is worth something, even for 
the tiniest of Caribbean and South Pacific Islands.

>The current situation is not horrible in this regard, because it does 
>not matter where someone *comes from* per se, so long as they take a 
>global approach.
>
That's under control for now, but there is a strong risk that this could 
change in the future.

Ec