The Cunctator wrote--
That is to say, in my opinion, the root causes for this current upset lie in failures of the institution (Wikipedia policies and customs) rather than the individuals--though the individuals should be able to transcend the current failures of the institution by avoiding such temptations as calling for NPOV votes.
The Cuncator is absolutely right.
Root causes of the "current upset" have everything to do with Wikipedia policies and customs, in particular, the absence of some sort of means for dealing with article disputes that cannot be solved within the Wiki consensus editing model. Whether this mechanism is formal (mediation and arbitration have been suggested) or social (with, for example, other Wikipedians engaging in facilitative behavior in an effort to contain and resolve the conflict), is a choice we can make.
the individuals should be able to transcend the current failures of the institution by avoiding such temptations as calling for NPOV votes.
This the latest in a number of attempts at out-of-process methods to control the content of the article. Neither Erik nor James has exactly been a model of civility and restraint, probably due to the fact that they are both passionate about the article and do not have any clear, fairly administered recourse for resolving the conflict.
Louis