[Wikimedia-l] [Foundation-l] Volunteers Wanted: Funds Dissemination Process Advisory Group

[Thomas Dalton]

On 10 April 2012 17:51, Barry Newstead <bnewstead at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> If we simply select an FDC (btw - how would this happen?) and ask them to
> figure out the issues for themselves, this would be a recipe for serious
> challenges that could doom the FDC from the start. A relatively brief, but
> structured process that is open, has an effective advisory group of trusted
> people, and is supported by consultants who can give us structure and help
> us with the heavy-lifting on process design seems like a solid way to get
> us to a good outcome and help the FDC get off to an effective start.

We would select an FDC by having a discussion on meta about how we
think we should select an FDC and then, once we have a consensus, we
implement it. That's how we make decisions around, whenever possible.
I think we should at least try and reach a consensus rather than just
assuming that we need to delegate decision making power to yet another
committee.

Can you expand on what you mean by "serious challenges"? Do you mean
people will challenge the decisions of the FDC if it isn't spelt out
exactly what decisions they should be making and how? In my
experience, the opposite is true. If you try and codify exactly what a
decision making body is allowed to do then that allows people to
challenge it and you end up with situations like the US is facing at
the moment with the legislature having passed a law but it's now going
through the courts because people are challenging that law.

If you take the British approach of parliamentary sovereignty, that
doesn't happen. We elect people to make decisions for us and then we
let them make those decisions. If they make bad ones, we elect
different people next time. (Of course, we complain constantly about
the decisions they are making, but that's just good fun!) With the FDC
we would have another safety net in the form of the WMF board's veto.

Everyone agrees that the FDC is going to be a very powerful body, but
you are trying to restrict its power as much as possible. It will be
far more effective if you just give it the power to make the decisions
that it thinks are best. That is, after all, its job.