Re: Social Committee proposal text (diff)

[Josip Rodin <joy@entuzijast.net>]

On Tue, Feb 13, 2007 at 07:39:12PM +0100, gregor herrmann wrote:
> > > > + If there are fewer than S2 candidates
> > > > +  at the end of the nomination period, then the nomination period is
> > > > +  extended for two further weeks, repeatedly if necessary.</li>
> > > > +  <li>If "None Of The Above" wins the election, or if fewer than S2
> > > > +  candidates win over "None of the Above", the election process is
> > > > +  repeated.</li>
> > > How often should the nomination period and the election process be
> > > repeated? I'd suggest to include some maximum otherwise they could go
> > > on ad infinitum.
> > You can see similar rules in other parts of the constitution, see 5.2.4,
> > 5.2.6.
> 
> I think there's a huge difference between "no candidates" (5.2.4) and
> "fewer than S2 candidates" in your proposal, and between "NOTA wins"
> (5.2.6) vs. "fewer than S2 candidates over NOTA".
> 
> In other words: The threshold is much higer (16 vs. 1 AIUI) and it's
> much easier that it won't be reached.
> 
> And the regulations in the Constitution seem logically necessary: If
> there is not a single candidate or a single winner there has to be
> some "else case" whereas your S2 boundary is arbritary (which is not
> bad in itself but it could be any other value too).
>  
> > Do you think it's likely for it to go on for more than one repetition?
>  
> I've no real idea but it might lead to a dead end. And having
> infinite nominations/elections because there are e.g. "only" 10 and
> not 16 persons seems to defeat the whole idea.

(Just a note - my S2 boundary isn't really arbitrary, it's basically a
function of the quorum.)

I have pondered this previously, but I decided to have a try like that
still. If we allow the bar to be dropped arbitrarily down from the
quorum-based quota, then how do we decide how many are sufficient and
how many are not?

E.g. most people will think that a re-vote isn't worth it if we get 15
rather than 16, many will think it's not worth it if it's 10 rather than 16,
but what if one day it's 10 rather than 23, and at the same time we get a
three times as large a turnout, meaning we are sampling a much larger
interested population?

Where do we put the threshold?

-- 
     2. That which causes joy or happiness.