Quoting Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com:
Admins do make the deletion decisions, they just do so after "the community" comments.
Admins make determinations, not decisions. They determine is there is a consensus to delete, or if an article fits a CSD. Those aren't decisions, since there is no choice. With a decision, you can choose anything you like, with a determination, there is a right answer which you have to try and find.
While that might be true in principle, in practice many admins make decisions that often have little basis in policy or such. One just needs to keep a careful track of DRV to get even a sampling of this.