Solution
But what can we do? Obviously we can't remove process outright. Besides the amount of process that we would have to go through to remove it, most have become so entrenched that they are now completely unremovable. The solution is to limit the process, and that's what Requests for process does.
Procedure
Instead of allowing anyone to create process, they must request it here first. Any process started without a link to approval may be immediately reverted.
Submitting
A request for process template is filled out and placed into the "New requests" section. A user may only make 1 non-urgent process request per day.
{{subst:ProcessRequest
| title = <!-- Should be formatted as username/YYYY-MM-DD -->
| type = <!-- Deletion debate, RFC, noticeboard thread, RFAR, proposal etc. -->
| people = <!-- Number of people expected to be involved -->
| length = <!-- Time in hours the process is expected to last -->
| vote = <!-- Yes or no, will there be a vote or poll? -->
| description = <!-- Short description of why you need process -->
| urgent = <! Is this an urgent request? --> }}
Valid values for "urgent" are "urgent", "very urgent", "extremely urgent", and "Wikipedia is likely to be taken over by vandals and Pokémon article authors within approximately 30 seconds if this is not approved". Providing other values is grounds for immediate rejection. It is expected that most requests will fall into the last category.
Clerks
A Request for process clerk will make sure your request is properly formatted, remove it if not, and move it to the "Needs review" section if it is formatted properly.
Urgent requests
If a matter is marked as urgent, it may be speedily approved by a member of the Process Committee, though this approval may be revoked and the process terminated if the committee later determines that it was not urgent.
Approval
If not urgent, it will be deliberated by members of the Process Committee. It will be moved into the "Reviewed" section and marked as 1 of 8 states:
- Approved The process must begin in the next 12 hours.
- Provisionally approved The process is provisionally approved, and must be implemented within the next 12 hours, but will be subject to review after a period of time specified by the Process Committee following a poll.
- Partially approved. The portion of the process partially approved will appear pending provisional parsing into portions passing approval and portions denied. All portions shall be subject to sub-processes to be determined by committees to be formed at the appropriate time, which will be only after such processes proceed apace, prior to procedural apportionment as given in subsections yet to be written, pending unwritten subprocesses by as yet undetermined non-parliamentary adjudicating and non-self-obfuscatory entities.
- Delayed <time> There is currently too much non-important process going on, but the requested process can be started in the 12 hours following the time given.
- Denied with prejudice The process is unnecessary and may not be started. Users whose requests are frequently denied may be process-banned for a period of time by the Committee.
- Denied without prejudice The necessity of the process has not been adequately substantiated at present, but has at least been marginally demonstrated, and an amended request may be resubmitted after a period of not less than 36 hours.
- Denied with apathy The Process Committee has no opinion on whether the process should be implemented or not, but is too over-taxed at present to go through with the approval process. The Process Committee will take the weekend to get their shit together, and will get back to you first thing on Monday.
- Needs-input The Process Committee needs more input from the requesting user before making a decision.
Appeal
Appeal of denied requests may only be done via direct request to Jimbo Wales. The Arbitration Committee is not a method of appeal as filing an RFAR requires an approval from the Process Committee first leading to a conflict of interest. Users may also appeal an approved/delayed request to the Process Committee mailing list, and an injunction may be issued to halt the process while it is being re-reviewed.
Appeal of approved requests
People who are against a given approval may file a request for approval review. Once a request for approval review is approved, the approval is then reviewed, and a decision will be made whether to uphold, revert, or send the proposal back to requests for process (this page).
Process Committee
The Process Committee will consist of 12 members elected to 2 month terms. The election process will consist of 2 weeks for nomination time, 4 weeks of Q&A, followed by 3 weeks of voting. Process Committee members must have at least 10,000 edits, with at least 25,000 combined in Wikipedia and Wikipedia talk namespaces.
Clerks
Any user with at least 5,000 combined edits in the Wikipedia and Wikipedia talk namespaces may apply to the Process Committee to be a clerk. A decision to approve or deny such applications shall be given by the Process Committee no sooner than 7 days after the application was submitted, to allow sufficient time for the merits of the applicant to be discussed. For purposes of approving or denying applications for clerkship, a quorum shall consist of no fewer than three-fifths of the total active membership of the Process Committee. An application that passes without comment from the committee for 13 or more days shall be regarded as being effectively denied. Re-application for clerkship may not be made by a denied applicant after fewer than 45 days, unless said re-application is approved by way of appeal to the Process Committee's Standing Subcommittee for Clerkship Application Appeals.
Process Committee's Standing Subcommittee for Clerkship Application Appeals
The Process Committee's Standing Subcommittee for Clerkship Application Appeals shall be composed of not less than nineteen-sixtieths and not more than seven-seventeenths of the total active membership of the Process Committee, selected by means of dividing each Process Committee member's last Wikipedia-articlespace diff number by pi, then multiplying by the sum total of articles about extinct fish. The number resulting shall be hashed (not omeletted), and the members whose numbers are evenly divisible by an irrational number randomly chosen by the appellee, shall be placed on the Process Committee's Standing Subcommittee for Clerkship Application Appeals. Said Standing Subcommittee for Clerkship Application Appeals shall have sole and ultimate authority over appeal, except in case of asteroid impact, or other comparable cataclysmic event (see full list here).
