Requests for Comment/Require that RfCs undergo a public comment period

Miraheze "Requests for Comment" (RfC), in practice, are formal votes where a majority is able to change the rules for behavior and the governing structure of Miraheze. Unfortunately, the RfC name and frequent practice mean that discussion and decision are intermixed, and a formal vote turns into an occasion for further brainstorming.

Instead, RfCs should undergo a drafting phase, with public notice and a chance for editing. It should only be presented for a vote when it has completed this phase.

Proposal: Require that RfCs undergo a public comment period
Anyone can propose a change to the Miraheze rules using a Request for Comment (RfC). For the proposal to be binding, it must follow these steps:
 * 1) The proposer writes the proposal in a new page in the proposer's userspace, whose title accurately describes the proposal.
 * 2) The proposer announces the proposal in a new section at Community noticeboard. This should explain the motivation for the proposal in enough detail that readers can decide if they want to participate.  It must point to the user page containing the draft.
 * 3) The proposer accepts comments and moderates any joint editing on this user page. Comments may oppose the proposal, and may propose to weaken it, but should not try to sabotage it.  The proposer shall respond to comments but controls the proposal, as the proposer has a goal in mind.  Opponents whose views do not prevail in the comment period should vote against the RfC and explain their opposition so as to convince other voters.
 * 4) The comment period shall last at least 1 week but shall remain in effect until comments die down. However, if the comment period has been open for 1 week and 3 commenters agree, the RfC moves to a vote.  Agreeing to advance the RfC does not mean that one agrees with the RfC or is obliged to vote to support it.
 * 5) The proposer then moves the proposal to mainspace, with a name starting with "Request for Comment/". The proposer moves the comments received to the proposal's talk page (or to a section at the bottom of the RfC with a title such as "Comments received during the editing phase".  The voting period begins and is conducted as before.
 * 6) It is not in order to write new proposals inside the RfC, such as a proposal to go in the exact opposite direction. If voters believe Miraheze should take different action, they should argue against and vote against the RfC and begin work on a separate RfC with its own comment period.  The RfC itself should not offer alternatives and multiple-choice.  This should have been worked out in the comment period and voters should be offered a single option to either accept or reject.
 * 7) Proposals in an RfC shall not be edited after a vote to Support or Oppose has been cast. If the proposal is poorly drafted, options are to defeat it and start over, or pass it anyway and then write another RfC to amend it.

RfCs shall not be struck down on the technicality that the above procedure was not followed, unless someone gave the proposer timely notice of the above procedure and the proposer refused to follow it.

Abstain/Comment
The situation where discussion and voting are not clearly separated often makes me hesitant to vote, because the definition of the vote for or against the vote is not well-defined.However, since it is possible that the result of Proposal A will affect Proposal B(B is not well-Proposal(defined).), it is necessary to be open to the fact that discussion and voting are mixed.While this can be avoided by simulating a possible situation and branching the proposal when drafting, it can be difficult to complete.Therefore, even if the RfC is the same, I want to have flexibility so that I can vote for each proposal.Therefore, I would like to include a wording that allows the start date and time of voting to be set for each clause even with the same RfC. What do you think?It is based on the assumption that the proposal will be finalized as much as possible when drafting it.--松 (talk) 16:18, 15 June 2020 (UTC)