CZ:Editorial Council Rules of Procedure

Editorial Council roles

Each member of the Editorial Council is referred to below as a "Member."

The Editorial Council has a Chair, who is the presiding officer of the body. Initially, the Chair is the Editor-in-Chief. The method of selection of the Chair will be left to decide later.

See below for an enumeration of the functions of Members and of the Chair. The Chair is a Member, but may not have all the rights of Members.

Initial proposals

• Any Member may make a proposal--similar to a "main motion" in parliamentary procedure--by doing these three things, in this precise order:
  1. creating a wiki page for the proposal, according to Editorial Council Proposal Guidelines, and linking to it from "Initial proposals" as well as from Editorial Council Proposals Complete List;
  2. posting to the Council mailing list, asking for two supporting Members; this rule applies to the Chair as it would any rank-and-file Member; and, finally,
  3. posting to the Council mailing list a message stating: "I move that the Council adopt the Proposal found at <URL>." The Member must not, at that time, offer arguments in favor of the Proposal.

If the Chair finds the Proposal to be in order, he or she moves it from "Initial proposals" to "Queue." Only the Chair may move the Proposal in this way. The Chair can move his or her own Proposals to the queue. The Chair then posts a message to the Council mailing list stating, "The Chair recognizes that Proposal NNNN (<URL>) is in order and has moved it onto the Agenda. It is currently in the Queue and is not yet available for official discussion."

• Nonmembers may not make proposals, although they may approach any Member with a proposal and ask the Member to pursue it.

• A proposal must be well worked out before it can be placed on the Agenda. The standards of a complete proposal are (will be) specified on Editorial Council Proposal Guidelines. To ensure that the proposal is well worked out, the proposal must be joined by at least two other Members.

• Each new proposal should have its own wiki page, made according to the following format: "Editorial Council Proposal NNNN", where NNNN is the next proposal number according to Editorial Council Proposals Complete List.

• Argumentation about the merits of a proposal is not permitted either on the wiki or on cz-editcouncil until it comes up for discussion.

• The editor-in-chief and chief constable may, in a way to be determined, object to a proposal on grounds of improper purview.

The agenda

• The agenda, populated by proposals, is divided into three sections: queue; discussion; and voting. "Queue" refers to a staging area for new proposals.

• The Chair’s primary responsibility is to edit the agenda. That is, it’s the Chair’s job to move items from initial proposals, to the queue, to discussion, to voting. But there is a wider variety of possible "motions." Some of these motions can be made by the Chair acting on his or her own recognizance; others require Member participation.

• Any Council Member may make a motion with regard to the agenda. If the change is one that the Chair ordinarily takes on his own recognizance, and the Chair refuses the change, then the Member may call a vote. If the call for vote is seconded, then a vote is announced. Such votes should be very time-limited--a 24 hour vote. See below for guidelines on voting. Note that the Chair is not said to "move" or "make motions" with respect to Chair responsibilities, but instead to "take actions," because these Chair actions do not require a second or a vote.

• Available motions are these:
  • Discussion: transfers a proposal from the queue to discussion. This is a Chair responsibility, but any Member may make a motion to this effect; if seconded, a vote on the motion is taken.
  • Extend discussion: leaves a proposal in discussion for a set amount of time. The Chair may extend discussion singlehandedly. The motion, made by any other person, carries automatically if it is made and seconded, and the amount of time requested is 24 hours or less. Otherwise, if seconded, a vote is taken.
  • Voting: transfers a proposal from discussion to voting. This is a Chair responsibility, but any Member may make a motion to this effect; if seconded, a vote on the motion is taken.
  • Strike from the agenda on the merits: rejects the proposal without debate, or without further debate. This motion carries summarily if the proposal's original sponsor makes the motion; but it can be overturned by any three other members, the first of which becomes the new sponsor of the proposal. In addition, the Editor-in-Chief may move to strike from the agenda; but in this case, on the motion of two Members, the Council may take a vote on the question.
  • Strike from the agenda due to jurisdiction: the Editor-in-Chief or the Chief Constable may lodge a complaint that the Council is taking up an issue outside of its authority. The question will be decided by a method yet to be decided.

• All actions and motions (i.e., an item for discussion or vote) must be announced and made on cz-editcouncil--not just on the wiki or in private e-mail.

The queue

• The queue exists as a staging area, when the Council's attention is taken up with other matters. Council members, being for the most part busy professionals, cannot be expected to adjudicate many issues properly all at once. The Chair will establish when the Council is ready to take up another issue, subject to motions by Members.

Discussion

• "Official" discussion of a proposal ordinarily begins only as follows. An initial call for comment on the proposal is posted on the cz-editcouncil mailing list--which is made a moderated list. Some specific amount of time is set, such as 48 hours, for initial comments. All initial comments on the proposal are saved by the moderator until that period elapses; then they are all posted at once to the list. (This is to avoid an echo chamber effect; each Member offers his or her initial, non-binding opinion uninfluenced by others. The hope is that we will enjoy the benefits of the full spectrum of opinion on a question.)

• Note that the original sponsor of a proposal may not include detailed arguments as part of the proposal, although there may be a brief preamble that explains, as neutrally as possible, the intended purpose of the proposal.

• Next, three methods of further commentary are used:
  • First, the proposal is posted on the Forums. The proposal may not be posted on the Forums until after the Council has initially weighed in. Members may, but do not have to, contribute to the discussion on the Forums. They are asked, but not required, to read the results.
  • Second, on a single wiki page, each member is given some set, fairly small number of words (specified in the rules) to articulate his or her position on the proposal. Voting members are required to read this page before voting. Members may revise their statements throughout the discussion period. Nonmembers may not comment on this page. We might set up a distinct page for similarly brief comments from nonmembers, however.
  • Third, any Member may elaborate a larger position statement on a page such as http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Proposal_0014/Sanger_opinion
    These are linked from the proposal page. Voting members are asked, but not required, to read these pages.

All commentary is to be linked from the proposal page.

• There is no such thing as a filibuster. Some rules analogous to Robert’s Rules, such as a motion to table a question, will be devised--but adapted to mailing lists and/or wikis. Motions are made on the cz-editcouncil mailing list, not on the wiki.

Voting

• A vote can be called only after a proposal has remained for a minimum length of time in discussion.

• Three editors might be able to "call the question" and end discussion, if the Chair has not yet done so.

• Except in rare cases where secret balloting is well-advised, voting takes place on a wiki page. We can simply create two columns, "Yes" and "No" (or whatever the options are), and Members sign their names in the appropriate columns. I think it is important that we not offer comments/justifications on the pages where the voting takes place. We, Council Members, merely sign our names. Nonmembers may not vote.

• Voting is limited by time. There should be a strict minimum of 24 hours for every vote, but more time is permissible. The vote is automatically tallied and reported by the Chair, or someone deputized by the Chair, immediately after the closing time.