CZ:Charter

The information on the page below is likely OBSOLETE

At least some of this information applied to an older way of operating The wiki's policies and rules are now linked to the main page at Welcome_to_Citizendium.

The following information is not current. Older practices became guidance only after 15th November 2016, when the Citizendium project's last set of voted-on policies came into effect. Now that participation in the wiki is low, our current rules are finalized by the managing editor after listening carefully to participants and advisors. Changes may be suggested and discussed through in the forums.

Preamble

The Citizendium is a collaborative effort to collect, structure, and cultivate knowledge and to render it conveniently accessible to the public for free. It is built online by volunteers who contribute under their real names and agree to this social covenant centered around trust.

Part I: Citizenship and Editorship

Article 1

Registered users shall be referred to as Citizens.

Article 2

All persons who apply for a Citizendium account shall do so under their real name and according to other criteria that may be established by the Citizendium Council. Application process shall be defined by the Citizendium Council. Participants in Citizendium agree to abide by this charter and other terms of participation as established by the Citizendium Council.

Article 3

Citizens shall not have their application to join or their use of the site blocked or terminated on the basis of their nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, creed, gender, sexuality, profession, education, politics, residence, age, name, or URL. Nor shall any official or governing body of the Citizendium discriminate in favor or against Citizens (except to the degree that such discrimination promotes editorial expertise), or any dispute be resolved, on the basis of any of these criteria.

Article 4

The Citizendium community shall recognize the special role that experts play in defining content standards in their relevant fields and in guiding content development towards reliability and quality.

Article 5

Citizens shall act responsibly and in a civil manner: derogatory or offensive language or behavior will not be tolerated. Citizens who interfere with another Citizen's rights as delineated by this Charter or who violate rules established by the Citizendium Council shall be subject to administrative action upon complaint of the aggrieved Citizen, the punishment of which may include, but is not limited to, suspension from the Citizendium for a period of time, or permanent expulsion. Other administrative actions may be established by the Citizendium Council.

Article 6

Citizens shall mutually respect their competency regarding any of their contributions.

Article 7

All Citizens shall be equal and no special privileges shall be granted except those granted in this charter to Editors and Officers.

Article 8

1. Each Citizen is assigned a User space and user Talk space bearing his Citizendium user name.

• These pages are subject to the same copyright license as all other pages contributed to the project,
• their history shall be preserved and thus they shall not be deleted, but
• they are not released to be indexed by search engines.

2. Citizens may—within the limits set by the Citizendium Council—freely edit pages in their user space as long as

• it contains the minimum of biographical information required by the Citizendium Council, and
• the information needed for administrative purposes,

but inflammatory, derogatory, or illegal material shall be removed by the Moderator Group.

3. User Talk pages shall be open to communications by other Citizens, but may be moderated by their owner.

• However, discussions of general interest that are not welcomed by the owner must not be blanked, but may be moved to a more suitable place.

4. A Citizen who wishes to retire from the Citizendium (whether for a period of time or forever)

• may replace his User page and his user Talk page by a page carrying only a notice of his withdrawal, except that
• Editors must retain the minimum information required by the Citizendium Council.
• Exceptionally, a User page may be deleted rather than simply blanked on request if the Citizen has never been active on the project.

Article 9

All Citizens shall be treated fairly and respectfully by other Citizens, Editors, and Officers of the Citizendium.

Article 10

In cases of dispute, Citizens have the right to request the help of other Citizens or Editors.

Article 11

Citizens should expect Officers and Editors to be fair and impartial. Biased Officers and Editors shall recuse themselves from their official positions in any dispute resolution process.

Article 12

Dispute resolutions should be resolved on the basis of the evidence and not upon the character, point of view, or politics of the Citizen.

Article 13

Citizens shall not have any decision rendered against them in a dispute resolution process for which they have not had opportunity to have their say.

Article 14

Editors are Citizens whose expertise in some field of knowledge is recognized and formally acknowledged by the community. Official recognition of expertise — obtained through education or experience — and its scope shall be based on guidelines established by the Citizendium Council.

Article 15

Editors shall assure the quality of the Citizendium's approved content. They shall review and evaluate articles and shall have the right to

1. approve high-quality articles that treat their topic adequately;
2. resolve disputes over specific content matters when requested;
3. enforce style and content guidelines as established by the Citizendium Council; and
4. identify for discussion incorrect or poorly presented content.

Article 16

Any change in Editor status shall require a formal decision by the Citizendium Council and may be appealed.

Part II: Content and style

Article 17

The Citizendium Council shall be empowered to develop policy on content and style.

Article 18

The Citizendium shall welcome contributions in all fields of knowledge.

Article 19

All articles shall treat their subjects comprehensively, neutrally, and objectively to the greatest degree possible in a well-written narrative, complementing text with other suitable material and media.

Article 20

Specialist material—including original research—shall be welcome within limits set by the Citizendium Council. Specialist material shall be put into context with background information and non-specialist material.

Article 21

As far as possible, special requirements of visually or otherwise impaired users and of responsibly exercised automated access shall be taken into account. Appropriate policies shall be developed when needed by the Citizendium Council.

Article 22

Articles formally judged to be of high quality by editors shall be designated "approved", protected and kept permanently available.

Article 23

The Citizendium shall remain free of advocacy, advertisement and sensationalism.

Part III: Organization and offices

See also Article 50 (procedure to resolve lack of functioning governance)

Article 24

The Citizendium shall be devoted to transparent and fair governance with a minimum of bureaucracy. It shall have one governing council: the Citizendium Council, and two ancillary positions: Managing Editor, Moderator Group.

Article 25

Section One: Election Cycle

1. Each year, half the members of the Council shall be elected. Elections for the Citizendium Council shall be completed by June 21 of each calendar year.
2. Elections shall be run by an "Election Committee" appointed by the Citizendium Council. Any citizen, including officials but excepting nominees, may serve on the elections committee. If the Council fail to appoint an Election Committee, the Managing Editor shall do so, failing whom also, the Moderator Group shall do so. The Committee shall comprise at least two members. Committee members shall be Citizens who do not hold Council seats or any other elected office. Appointees to other offices may serve.
3. The Election Committee shall maintain all nomination and ballot pages on the Citizendium.
4. For newly elected members, the term of office shall begin on the first of July for the Citizendium Council.

Section Two: Nominations

1. Any Citizen may nominate and/or support one or more candidates for the Council.
2. A Citizen who is supported by another Citizen becomes a candidate by declaring the intention to serve for the whole term.
3. Election Committee members shall be ineligible for nomination in the election. If a member resigns, the Council may appoint a replacement.

Section Three: Elections

1. The candidates collecting the most votes shall be elected.
2. A Council member who resigns or becomes inactive or unavailable for a period of 90 days or more shall be replaced either by election or by a vote of the Council only.
3. A vacant council member seat shall be filled within 90 days of the vacancy. If a normal election does not fall within this period, the Citizendium Council shall call a special election or vote to fill the seat with an appointed member who shall serve until the next regularly-scheduled election.
4. A special election is organized exactly as a regularly scheduled election, except the number of positions to be filled equals the number of Council vacancies.
5. Interim appointees to the Council must be approved by vote of the Council and may serve only until the next regularly-scheduled election.
6. Any Council-appointed election results auditor may not be a candidate, a member of the Election Committee or a member of the Council.

Section Four: Council Size

1. The Council may propose a change of its size by an even number of members; this proposal shall be subject to a referendum held together with the next election. If passed, the new seats shall be filled by special election.
2. A Council member may request a temporary leave of absence. Such leaves shall not exceed 120 days in a year. The temporary vacancy shall be filled with a citizen in good standing chosen by the Council. The term of this appointment shall equal the term of the temporary leave.
3. If, through resignations or simultaneous expiration of 90 day inactivity, Citizendium Council membership falls below a quorum, the Managing Editor shall fill one seat on a temporary basis as a voting member. The Citizendium Council shall be devoted to the task of establishing an Election Committee for the purpose of holding an election, or alternatively to vote to fill the seat(s) with (an) appointed member(s) who shall serve until the next regularly-scheduled election.
4. If, through resignation or 90 days' inactivity, the office of Managing Editor becomes vacant, the Citizendium Council shall either appoint an Election Committee to fill the office via an election, or vote to appoint an Editor who shall serve until the next regularly-scheduled election.

Article 26

The Managing Editor shall be elected by a simple majority of the voting citizenry during the same election period as the Citizendium Council. Any Editor in good standing may be nominated for the position, and all valid, accepted nominations must appear on the ballot.

Article 27

Moderators shall be appointed by the Citizendium Council. The Citizendium Council shall determine the number of Moderators. Any Citizen in good standing shall be eligible for the Moderator Group. The Citizendium Council shall appoint one Moderator as Moderator-in-Chief.

Article 29

All official posts shall be subject to the following conditions:

1. The term of office shall be two years, renewable. The term of any replacement shall end when the original term ends.
2. No Citizen may serve in two offices at the same time, except that a Citizen may sit on an appeals board while holding another office.
3. Any member of the Citizendium Council may resign at any time for any reason. The resignation may be made publicly or privately to the Council. The resignation becomes effective the moment that the Chair of the Citizendium Council accepts the resignation and announces the acceptance of the resignation in the official Council Forums. The moment that a resignation is formalized in that manner, that office is thereby vacant and must be filled according to the Charter.

Article 30

Elections and referenda shall be organized by the Citizendium Council and carried out by the Election Committee, with the following conditions:

1. Two weeks shall be provided for nominations and for discussions of the issues brought about during the nomination period.
2. Elections shall be open for a period of not less than seven days. The duration of the election period shall be determined by the Citizendium Council.
3. Election results shall be certified by the Citizendium Council not more than 2 days after the close of the election.
4. Each Citizen in good standing — as defined by the Citizendium Council — shall be entitled to one vote.
5. The nature of the ballot shall be determined by the Citizendium Council, provided that any method adopted must be accessible and usable by every Citizen.

Article 31

An official may be recalled by two thirds vote of the Citizendium Council.

Part IV: Community policy

Article 32

The Citizendium Council is responsible for content and style policies. In particular, it shall

1. make all decisions regarding the content of the Citizendium;
2. establish the qualifications for Editors and establish the procedure for promoting Citizens to Editor status, provided that such qualifications and such procedures do not violate any article of this charter;
3. coordinate and supervise the Editors and their activities;
4. encourage and supervise development and organization of the Citizendium's content;
5. adjudicate disputes over content among Authors, Editors, and/or Managing Editor, and impose its decisions upon the content of the Citizendium;
6. publicly set its own rules and by-laws for its meetings.

Article 33

The Citizendium Council shall enforce its decisions over content by reporting violations of its dispute resolutions to the Moderators. Failure to abide by the decisions of the Citizendium Council pursuant to the resolution of a dispute shall be considered a behavioral infraction and subject to action by a Moderator.

Article 34

The Citizendium Council is responsible for the technical and economic resources of the Citizendium and its related websites. In particular, it shall:

1. make all the financial and legal decisions for the Citizendium;
2. develop all rules of civility and behavior for participation on the Citizendium which shall apply equally to all Citizens regardless of status or position, adjudicate alleged violations of the rules, and impose sanctions for violations of the rules;
3. administer "User Rights" as defined by the software;
4. where necessary, develop operational procedures to implement the powers and institutions of this charter;
5. appoint and supervise the activities of Moderators;
6. conduct elections and certify the results of elections;
7. publicly set its own rules and by-laws for its meetings;
8. manage technical matters (software and hardware);
9. establish and maintain public awareness of the Citizendium; and
10. invite and establish collaboration with external partners on any matters relevant to the Citizendium's mission.

Article 35

The Council shall

1. have a quorum corresponding to the simple majority of its members;
2. develop written guidelines to define and explain methods of communicating with the Council, including a mechanism that allows Citizens to petition the Council;
3. be empowered to appoint delegates to perform specific tasks for a specific period of time (not more than two years) provided that the responsibility for the actions of a delegate shall always remain with the Council;
4. have power to adjudicate content and behavior disputes in their core competency;
5. have power to impose sanctions on Citizens for violations of rules.

Article 36

• The Managing Editor has the following duties:

1. to ensure by means of executive decisions that the principles and policies of the Citizendium are effectively and coherently observed; such decisions shall be based on established policy where defined;
2. to make interim decisions on behalf of the Citizendium Council when established policy does not provide guidance; these decisions shall be overridden by the establishment of relevant policy;
3. to represent the Citizendium in its relations with external bodies, such as the mass media, and academic or non-academic institutions;
4. to offer guidance on existing policy and its interpretation to help resolve disputes; to advise the Council; and settle disputes including imposing interim solutions pending relevant policy decisions. Throughout, the Managing Editor's guidance is expected to be in accord with the established principles and policies of Citizendium, and particularly with the Charter. The Managing Editor is available to mediate any dispute. The Managing Editor mediates a dispute when requested by all involved parties or when requested by the Moderator-in-Chief. Agreements worked out through mediation shall be binding but may be appealed.

Article 37

Referenda may be initiated in two ways:

1. Any Citizen may petition the Citizendium Council that contested rules or guidelines be submitted to a referendum. The Council must have jurisdiction over the contested matter. The Council may, by simple majority vote, submit the referendum to a vote of the citizenry at the next regular election.
2. A referendum may be initiated by a group of Citizens corresponding in size to 20 percent of the number of voters in the previous election. The Citizendium Council must include a valid citizen-initiated referendum in the next regular election. Failure to do so will automatically pass the referendum which shall then become official policy and enforceable. This charter may not be amended by a failure of the Citizendium Council to submit a referendum to a vote.

Furthermore:

• A referendum must be written as enforceable rules or guidelines.
• A referendum shall be decided by simple majority of the votes validly cast by the citizenry during a regular election.
• Any amendment to and any change of this Charter shall require a referendum and shall be ratified if accepted by a qualified majority of two thirds of the votes validly cast.
• Any change of the license shall require a referendum.

Part V: Behavior and dispute resolution

Article 38

The Moderator Group shall enforce the Citizendium's rules of behavior as determined by the Citizendium Council, which shall apply equally to all Citizens regardless of status or position, including Editors and those with official positions. In particular, Moderators

1. shall not intervene in matters of content, and
2. shall act with reasonable pragmatism and leniency, and only in those situations where a behavioral dispute is clearly covered by existing rules.
3. Moderators shall have power to block citizens' access to the Citizendium.
4. Any act of the Moderators may be appealed to the Citizendium Council.

Article 40

• Whenever possible, disputes shall be settled informally at the lowest possible level by subject matter Editors. Specifically, the following shall apply:

1. Any party involved in a dispute may contact the Managing Editor for assistance in dispute resolution.
2. When a formal decision on content disputes or disputes involving violation of the rules is necessary or demanded, the Managing Editor shall facilitate the presentation of the issue to the Citizendium Council.
3. All Citizens shall have the right to a fair hearing, which shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following: the opportunity to present one's case in one's defense, the right to be heard by a fair and unprejudiced body, the right to have others offer testimony on one's behalf.
4. The Citizendium Council may impose sanctions that result in blocking a citizen's access to Citizendium, removing or altering content, or terminating the citizen. The Citizendium Council may from time to time devise additional sanctions as appropriate.
5. Citizens shall not have arbitrary or excessive sanctions imposed upon them.

Article 41

Appeals of formal decisions shall be possible when a disputant can show an Appeals Board that either:

1. New information is available; or
2. A technical error was made during the previous formal procedure.

Article 42

• An Appeals Board shall consist of Citizens who were not previously directly involved, as follows:

1. two members appointed by the Citizendium Council, and
2. the Managing Editor or his/her designee.

Article 43

An Appeals Board may render one of three decisions: it may decide that the disputant does not have new information or that the Citizendium Council made no technical error and deny a re-hearing; it may affirm the Citizendium Council's decision, in spite of new information or technical error; or it may recognize that new information, a technical error, or both has placed the Citizendium Council's decision in error and remand the case to the Citizendium Council for rehearing. If the case has been remanded for re-hearing, it is expected that the Citizendium Council revise its judgment in light of the appeal.

Article 44

• The Citizendium Council shall create a procedure allowing for dispute resolution to be heard privately. Privately heard disputes forfeit their right to appeal on technical grounds, although an appeal will still be possible upon discovery of new information.
• In some cases, either at the discretion of the adjudicating council or at the request of a disputant, part of a public dispute resolution process may be removed from public view. Such an exception shall require public justification by the Managing Editor.

Part VI: Administrative matters

Article 45

All Citizens, regardless of position or status, shall be bound by this Charter including its amendments, and no referendum or decision of the Citizendium Council or any official shall contravene it.

In cases where local, regional, national, or international law voids or limits clauses of this charter or its amendments, all other clauses of this charter and its amendments shall still be effectual and be implemented consistent with law.

Article 46

Material originating at Citizendium shall always be free to use, reuse, and redistribute — subject only, at most, to the requirement that those who reuse Citizendium content acknowledge the source of the material and make derivative works equally free to use, reuse, and redistribute. The Citizendium Council has the right to upgrade the license version on behalf of contributors, but any change in license type must be ratified through public referendum. The licensing of content incorporated from elsewhere shall follow the conditions stipulated by the respective copyright owners. For all material, the applicable copyright license shall be clearly stated.

Article 47

The Citizendium Council shall elaborate a strategy and policy on handling the establishment of branches in languages other than English. This must include the establishment of (1) governance structures parallel to those codified in this charter for each new branch and (2) a democratic system for decision-making across branches.

Article 48

• No official of the Citizendium — including any member of the Citizendium Council, Moderator Group, or Managing Editor, who are volunteers — shall be personally liable to the Citizendium or its members for monetary damages for a breach of the officials' fiduciary duties provided that the breach is not the result of

1. Acts not done or omissions not occurring in good faith;
2. Acts involving misconduct or a knowing violation of law;
3. Acts for which the official derived an improper personal benefit;
4. Acts done or omissions occurring before the adoption of this charter; or
5. Gross negligence.

• No Citizen shall be personally liable for the monetary liabilities of or judgments against the Citizendium unless the Citizen has been shown to have authored libelous or slanderous content, or to have committed other acts, resulting in judgment or damages against the Citizendium.

Part VII: Transitional measures

Article 49

The former Editor-in-Chief Larry Sanger shall be awarded with the honorary title Founding Editor-in-Chief in acknowledgement of his achievements for the Citizendium.

Article 50

In the event that the election and/or referenda do not produce a functional Council, or at any point in the future the membership of the Council falls below a quorum and not enough seats are subsequently filled on an interim basis, the following emergency procedure shall come into effect and in so doing over-rule any other parts of the Charter that it contradicts:

1. If the office of Managing Editor is vacant or is about to expire and cannot be filled by election, any Editor in good standing may be appointed for renewable two-year terms by the Council or Governing Board as established in (3) below, or by consensus among previous Council members.
2. The Managing Editor shall establish a moratorium on all future elections and independent Council activity, to remain in effect until the Citizendium has acquired at least 175 active users and at least 90 days have passed. (The Citizendium considers an "active user" as a user who, in the twelve months preceding consideration of ending the moratorium, has edited the main wiki at least six days per month for at least eight of those twelve months, or a user who regularly works on behalf of Citizendium whether they edit the main wiki or not (e.g., actively participating Council members, technical staff, PR-activists.)
3. During the moratorium, the Citizendium's governance shall consist of an interim Citizendium Council, called "The Citizendium Governing Board", chaired by the Managing Editor and comprising five members who will serve for two years, or fewer if the moratorium on elections terminates.
4. For the initial board, the Managing Editor shall call for volunteers, choosing four, requesting ratification from the Citizenry through an official, public mailing list. Any volunteer who receives more than three 'nays' will require replacement by another on the volunteer list. Nay-votes shall be submitted to a Moderator by email.
5. Once the moratorium ends, the Council shall be re-established in accordance with the Charter. Any Council members shall be invited to resume duties if still within their terms of office and the Governing Board shall be dissolved once it has organised an election to fill any vacant seats and certified the results.