[WikiEN-l] Arbitration Committee elections, 2005

Thu Oct 27 16:59:27 UTC 2005

On 10/26/05, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:

>   http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/hist_texts/structurelessness.html
>
> If you don't have a structure then one will form out of your sight and
> bite you in the arse.

An interesting point, and a good read.  I certainly don't agree with
all of Freeman's statements, but her Principles of Democratic
Structuring at the end are rather good.  Working out how this might
work in a wiki setting is a worthy exercise.

1 Delegation of specific authority to specific individuals for
specific tasks by democratic procedures. If people are selected to do
a task, preferably after expressing an interest or willingness to do
it, they have made a commitment which cannot easily be ignored.

2 Requiring all those to whom authority has been delegated to be
responsible to all those who selected them. This is how the group has
control over people in positions of authority. Individuals may
exercise power, but it is the group that has the ultimate say over how
the power is exercised.

3 Distribution of authority among as many people as is reasonably
possible. This prevents monopoly of power and requires those in
positions of authority to consult with many others in the process of
exercising it. It also gives many people an opportunity to have
responsibility for specific tasks and thereby to learn specific
skills.

4 Rotation of tasks among individuals. Responsibilities which are held
too long by one person, formally or informally, come to be seen as
that person's 'property' and are not easily relinquished or controlled
by the group.

5 Allocation of tasks along rational criteria.  Ability, interest and
responsibility have got to be the major concerns in such selection.
6 Diffusion of information to everyone as frequently as possible.

7 Equal access to resources needed by the group.  A member who
maintains a monopoly over a needed resource (like a printing press or
a darkroom owned by a husband) can unduly influence the use of that
resource. Skills and information are also resources. Members' skills
and information can be equally available only when members are willing
to teach what they know to others.

++SJ