[WikiEN-l] William M. Connoley, admin? (was: Running the asylum)

Fri Jul 15 21:57:24 UTC 2005

On 7/15/05, Dan Grey <dangrey at gmail.com> wrote:
> Y'know, one thing leaps out at me - how can 70/30 for/against possibly
> be a 'no'? Turn it on it's head for a moment - 30/70 for/against, yet
> it (whatever it is) is passed - that would madness, right? But that's
> what we're saying here.

The reason 70/30 can be a "no" is a core principle of Wikipedia:
Wikipedia operates on consensus, not majority.

Instead of counting votes, consider the standard to be "serve the
majority, but don't take any actions that seriously offend a
significant number of minority members".

If you think of it this way, it becomes much clearer why we don't
simply count votes, and why a bureaucrat may even use their discretion
to not promote at 80/20 occasionally.

-- 
Michael Turley
User:Unfocused