Governance: Difference between revisions

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|Description=Decisionmaking process at neuromatch.social
|Description=Decisionmaking process at neuromatch.social
|Contributor=Jonny Saunders
|Contributor=Jonny Saunders
|Approval Status=Proposed
|Approval Status=Approved
|Completion Status=Draft
|Completion Status=Ongoing
|Loomio Thread=https://loomio.neuromatch.social/d/N3JMkiod/-proposal-governance
|Loomio Thread=https://loomio.neuromatch.social/d/N3JMkiod/-proposal-governance
|Date Proposed=2023-01-30
|Date Proposed=2023-01-30
|Date Approved=
|Date Approved=2023-02-13
|Topic=Governance,Proposals,Discussions,Voting
|Topic=Governance,Proposals,Discussions,Voting
}}
}}
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Membership in any working group should be fluid: in most cases, a member needs only volunteer for a working group in order to be considered a part of it. By volunteering to be a part of a working group, a member agrees to undertake some proportion of the WG's responsibilities, depending on the WG's operating practices.
Membership in any working group should be fluid: in most cases, a member needs only volunteer for a working group in order to be considered a part of it. By volunteering to be a part of a working group, a member agrees to undertake some proportion of the WG's responsibilities, depending on the WG's operating practices.
[[Mastodon/TODO]] - Details about access to sensitive information - it should require a vote to gain root access or whatevs.


=== Responsibilities ===
=== Responsibilities ===
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Neuromatch.social decisions are made with a modified form of consensus for large asynchronous groups. There is no minimum vote required for quorum: all members are encouraged to vote in all decisions, but since it is impossible to define how many members are active, there is no sensible threshold that can be set.
Neuromatch.social decisions are made with a modified form of consensus for large asynchronous groups. There is no minimum vote required for quorum: all members are encouraged to vote in all decisions, but since it is impossible to define how many members are active, there is no sensible threshold that can be set.


Voting in a [[Consensus]] system is not like voting in a majoritarian system: rather than voting for the thing that would be best for you, you are voting for what is best for the instance. In order to prevent every decision from devolving into an academic deadlock:
Voting in a [[Consensus]] system is not like voting in a majoritarian system:  
* Members should be able to influence the particular structure of a proposal prior to a vote, rather than deliberate its details in the voting process. One should only "block" a proposal a few times during their tenure in a governance body, and any block should be an indication that the process has failed, rather than the proposal has failed.  
* Rather than voting for the thing that would be best for you, you are voting for what is best for the instance.
* Rather than the proposal being the starting point of a decision which then takes effect if a majority approve, the proposal is the endpoint in a process where the membership will have negotiated and discussed the form of the proposal and tried to address all needs beforehand.
* Rather than voting "no," we think in terms of '''"blocking"''' a proposal: decisions should be made with the rough consensus of the whole instance, which is why the thresholds for approval are much lower than 50%. In smaller settings, a proposal can be blocked by a single person.
The purpose for thinking in terms of consensus and blocking rather than majoritarian voting is to prevent a tyranny of the majority that might overlook the needs of marginalized or other groups in a numerical minority.
 
In order to prevent every decision from devolving into an academic deadlock:
* Members should be able to influence the particular structure of a proposal prior to a vote, rather than deliberate its details in the voting process. One should only "block" a proposal a few times during their tenure in a governance body, and any block should be an indication that the process has failed, rather than the proposal has failed.
* Members that block should - with some exceptions like blocking an action that would be personally harmful to you - participate in the followup process to meet the needs that the OP was trying to meet with their proposal: blocking means you should take on work.
* Members that block should - with some exceptions like blocking an action that would be personally harmful to you - participate in the followup process to meet the needs that the OP was trying to meet with their proposal: blocking means you should take on work.
* Members should resist the urge to micromanage and leave the granularity of decisions to the people that will be doing the work implied by any given proposal. We should cultivate a culture of trust in one another: believe your fellow members know what they're doing, and if you have input, you should be ready to volunteer alongside them.
* Members should resist the urge to micromanage and leave the granularity of decisions to the people that will be doing the work implied by any given proposal. We should cultivate a culture of trust in one another: believe your fellow members know what they're doing, and if you have input, you should be ready to volunteer alongside them.