Larry Sanger: How I started Wikipedia, video Options Rating

[Larry Sanger]

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c9mRKFy5fU

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqb-DhgkTTI

[Moulton]

Larry, you said that Citizendium has a governance model based on a Social Contract. Perhaps you can say a few words about that (and provide some links).

[Larry Sanger]

Larry, you said that Citizendium has a governance model based on a Social Contract. Perhaps you can say a few words about that (and provide some links).

I intended to talk more about this, but got sidetracked. Well, basically, we require that our "Citizens" agree to a Statement of Fundamental Policies, soon to be replaced by a Charter.

http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Fundamentals
http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Charter_drafting

The essay that kicked it off is relevant:
http://www.citizendium.org/essay.html

And so is this essay/speech, which I think might be right up your alley:
http://www.larrysanger.org/newpoliticsofknowledge.html

[Moulton]

Larry, you said that Citizendium has a governance model based on a Social Contract. Perhaps you can say a few words about that (and provide some links).

I intended to talk more about this, but got sidetracked. Well, basically, we require that our "Citizens" agree to a Statement of Fundamental Policies, soon to be replaced by a Charter.

http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Fundamentals
http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Charter_drafting

The essay that kicked it off is relevant:
http://www.citizendium.org/essay.html

And so is this essay/speech, which I think might be right up your alley:
http://www.larrysanger.org/newpoliticsofknowledge.html

That's very helpful, Larry. Thanks for posting those links.

Have you compared Citizendium's Charter and Terms of Engagement against those of other comparable projects (e.g. Scholarpedia)? If so, have you found any significant differences?

It will take me some time to digest the above materials, but I was arrested (pun intended) by this paragraph in your second essay...

Governments, and everyone else, implicitly recognize that social groups, however new and different, have their own interests and are usually capable of regulating themselves. It is a truly striking thing that people come together from across the globe and, out of their freely donated labor and strings of electrons, form a powerful new corporate body. When they do so—as I have repeatedly observed—they develop a sense of themselves as a group, in which they invest some time and can take some pride, and which they govern by rules.

I am very interested in the self-governance models of online communities, especially where there is a substantial likelihood of recurring conflict among members of the community. You might recall the motto of The WELL -- "Tools not Rules" -- which suggests that a rules and sanctions regulatory model, enforced by some kind of constabulary with due process adapted from concepts found in civil law may not be the only way to go in a collegial and congenial online community. Most people cannot imagine a functional alternate that would displace and improve upon a rules and sanctions regulatory model. I was wondering if you have thought about more enlightened alternative regulatory models than one grounded in rules and sanctions enforced by a constabulary.