Last Fortress Underground:Consensus

**Consensus** is part of a range of policies on how editors work with others. Consensus is not what everyone agrees to, nor is it the preference of the majority. Consensus results in the best solution that the group can achieve at the time. Remember, the root of "consensus" is "consent". This means that even if parties disagree, there is still overall consent to move forward in order to settle the issue. This requires co-operation among editors with different interests and opinions.

## Objectives

As a decision-making process, consensus decision-making aims to be:

* **Inclusive and participatory:** As many editors as possible should be involved in the consensus decision-making process.
* **Cooperative:** Editors in an effective consensus process should strive to reach the best possible decision for the wiki and all of wikians, rather than opt to pursue a majority opinion, potentially to the detriment of a minority.
* **Egalitarian:** All editors in the consensus decision-making process should be afforded equal input into the process. All users' opinions have an equal weight, and have the opportunity to present and amend proposals.
* **Solution-oriented:** An effective consensus decision-making process strives to emphasize common agreement over differences and reach effective decisions using compromise and other techniques to avoid or resolve mutually-exclusive positions within the group.
* **Most logical:** This happens when a solution appears to be impossible to execute because of the lack of support and co-operation.

## Process

Consensus discussions should always be attempts to *convince others*, using *reasons*. When a discussion breaks down to a mere polarized shouting match, there is no possibility of consensus, and the wiki will suffer. That said, consensus is not simple agreement; a handful of editors agreeing on something does not constitute a consensus, except in the thinnest sense. Consensus is a broader process where specific points are considered in terms of the wiki as a whole, in the hope that editors will negotiate a reasonable balance between competing views.

In general, the steps involved in the process of decision-making are as follows:

* **Discussion:** The issue is discussed with the goal of identifying opinions and information on the topic at hand. The general direction and potential proposals for action are often identified during the discussion.
* **Formation of a proposal:** Based on the discussion a formal decision proposal on the issue is presented.
* **Call for consensus:** The original proposer calls for consensus. Each editor must actively state their agreement/disagreement with the proposal, to avoid the group interpreting silence or inaction as agreement.
* **Identification and addressing of concerns:** If consensus is not achieved, the dissenters present their concerns on the proposal, potentially starting another round of discussion to address or clarify the concern.
* **Modification of the proposal:** The proposal is amended, re-phrased or ridered in an attempt to address the concerns. The process then returns to the call for consensus and the cycle is repeated until a satisfactory decision is made.

## Dissent

Although the consensus decision-making process should ideally identify and address concerns and reservations early, proposals do not always garner full consensus from the wiki.

When a call for consensus on a motion is made, a dissenting editor will have these options:

* **Neutral/Comment:** Editors who are willing to let a motion pass but desire to register their concerns with the group may choose to "comment". If there are significant reservations about a motion, the original proposer may choose to modify or re-word the proposal.
* **Oppose:** Editors who are unwilling to let a motion pass without modifications to proposal may choose to "oppose". The proposal will have to be modified or re-worded, or editors may choose to submit an alternative proposal, or a compromise (a middle way between two extremes).

## Rough consensus

A healthy consensus decision-making process encourages editors with differing opinions to post their concerns as early as possible, maximising the chance of accommodating the views of all minorities. Since unanimity may be difficult to achieve, especially in large communities, or unanimity may be the result of coercion, fear, undue persuasive power or eloquence, inability to comprehend alternatives, or plain impatience with the process of debate, an alternative benchmark of consensus is used: rough consensus.

**Rough consensus** is a process with no specific rule for "how much is enough." Rather, the question of consensus is left to the judgement of a non-partisan administrator or bureaucrat who has not voted on the issue.

## No consensus

In any discussion on this wiki, there are two possible outcomes: *consensus*, for some course of action, and *no consensus*. **When there is no consensus on the proposal, the current status quo prevails**. In the event where no consensus is achieved, it becomes the responsibility of the dissenting editor(s) to modify the original proposal if they wish to. However, it is also possible for the proponents to come up with an alternative proposal which addresses the concerns raised by the dissenters.

It is important to note that a few vocal dissenters do not create "no consensus".

## Silence and consensus

In some cases, consensus can be presumed to exist until voiced disagreement becomes evident. One can find out whether an edit has consensus when it sticks, is built upon by others, and most importantly when it is used or referred to by others. However, in discussions regarding policy change, **silence may not necessarily imply consent**.

Most of the time, editors will find that it is fine to assume consensus, even if just for now, as it is more important to keep editing and co-operating smoothly in good faith as much as possible.

When real people are affected by a decision, such as blocking users, positive confirmation is preferred. Even in these cases, however, dissent might show up later, and it is then no longer appropriate to assume consensus.

## Closure

Consensus may or may not be reached, but either way, the discussion needs to be closed in the end. The discussion may only be closed if one or more of the following has occurred:

* The topic has unanimous or near unanimous support or opposes and discussion has ran for at least a week or two.
* Legitimate discussions must remain open for a minimum of one week.
* The topic's arguments have been refuted and there is general consensus on which is the better and more accepted option.
* The topic has been open for a long period of time and the discussion has reached a standstill with no sign of consensus forming. The topic should be closed, on a basis of no consensus.
* The topic does not affect most or the whole community and is irrelevant and/or unnecessary.
* The topic is meant to be in another area of the wiki, such as the LFU:Requests for deletion.

Only administrators may close discussions, although all users are welcome to request closure, if they believe one or more of the above has occurred. Other users may support, oppose or comment on the closure, and an administrator will eventually decide on what action to take, using the above guidelines.

### Corollary

If you disagree or feel uncomfortable with a proposal or its alleged repercussions, the burden is on you to say so.

### Rationale

It is impractical to wait forever for affirmation: in the meantime, it is best to assume that silence implies consensus. Users can continue to hold that assumption (hopefully safely) until someone comes along and voices their concerns. The more visible the statement, and the longer it stands unchallenged, the stronger the implication of consensus is.

## Consensus is not...

### A majority vote

Consensus is not a majority vote. Voting has (at least) one inherent flaw in use in wikis, and that is that votes are semi-permanent, and community discussions are not.

A community discussion shifts with the community members. When a community view changes, its approach will merge seamlessly into the new line of thinking. This is because a community view is intangible. Votes, on the other hand, are nailed to the wall – and, worse still, the best way to really be rid of a vote is to have another vote against it.

Votes are especially unfair to those who come after. Someone walking in on a situation in which the dice have already been cast do not even get the chance to vote.

Every opinion counts. Consensus accounts for dissent and addresses it, although it does not always accommodate it. **An option preferred by 51% of people is generally not enough for consensus.** An option that is narrowly preferred is almost never consensus.

A vote may help to organise discussion around specific proposals, but this can sometimes breed conflict and division. One problem with a yes-or-no vote on a proposal is that there may be a consensus for a middle option. Even a "middle ground" option can be insufficient, as forcing people to choose between options may prevent new ideas from coming forward that would gain more support. Another problem with voting is that it might prevent a real discussion, as voters do not have to justify their position. This prevents people from evaluating the underlying reasons for a vote, and criticising weak or inaccurate reasoning for a vote. It also prevents people from coming up with alternative ways to satisfy the voter's concern, with a less divisive course of action.

The best way to determine consensus is to actually read and understand each person's arguments, even if they are divided on the surface. A consensus can be found by looking for common ground and synthesising the best solution that the group can achieve at that time.

### Unanimity

Consensus is not the same as unanimity. Every discussion should involve a good faith effort to hear and understand each other.

Insisting on unanimity can allow a minority opinion to filibuster the process. If someone knows that the group cannot move forward without their consent, they may harden their position in order to get their way. There is a three revert rule to limit efforts to stone wall the editing process.

Editors should make a good faith effort to reach a consensus. That means that the **dissenting party has to state how the current proposal fails to meet the interests of the wider group, rather than merely stating they will not accept it**. But after a good faith discussion, sometimes the dissenting party must consent to move forward even if they disagree with the specific course of action.

### All or nothing

If the group can identify areas of agreement, they should move forward where the group shares the same view. A complicated dispute might involve several issues, and some issues may be more controversial than others. But a disagreement on one issue should not prevent consensus on another issue. It is not helpful to expect complete and total agreement on every aspect of the dispute. Work with the issues where there is common ground, and revisit the lingering issues later if necessary.

### Permanent

Consensus is not immutable. Past decisions are open to challenge and are not binding, and one must realize that such changes are often reasonable. Thus, "according to consensus" and "violates consensus" are not valid rationales for making or reverting an edit, or for accepting or rejecting other forms of proposal or action.

The wiki remains flexible because new editors may bring fresh ideas, growing may evolve new needs, editors may change their minds over time when new things come up, and we may find a better way to do things.

A representative group (i.e. administrators and bureaucrats) might make a decision on behalf of the community as a whole. More often, editors document changes to existing procedures at some arbitrary time after the fact. But in all these cases, nothing is permanently fixed. The world changes, and the wiki must change with it. It is reasonable and indeed often desirable to make further changes to things at a later date, even if the last change was years ago.

### Hypothetical

While everyone on the wiki has the right to be heard, this does not mean that discussions remain open indefinitely until we hear from them. Nor does it mean that a consensus should be overridden by an appeal to "wikians out there" who silently disagree. If the current discussion does not represent real opinion, either prove it by referring to an existing discussion, or suggest starting a new discussion with a wider audience.