Wikipedia arbitration committee

This project is to study the Arbitration Committee of the English language Wikipedia.

Overview

Before the Arbitration Committee was created, Jimbo Wales was the final authority of Wikipedia and his decisions could not be overruled. On March 2007, Jimbo himself decreed that the ArbCom could overrule his decisions.

In Early 2004 an initial group of arbitration committee members was appointed by Jimbo Wales. Nine of them were volunteers, two were drafted. Plans were made for the election of committee members in the future. By March 2004 an initial version of an arbitration policy had been drafted.

At first, the policy said that "You will need to provide proof that the mediation process has failed or that at least one key party refused to participate in mediation in order for formal arbitration to begin."

In 2006, clerks were allowed to help with routine administrative tasks of the Arbitration Committee such as notifying people that they are involved in a case.

On October 2007, the banning policy was changed to reflect that the Committee may block people regardless of there being a request for arbitration concerning their case.

The former arbitrator Fred Bauber said on December 2007 that the Arbitration Committee does not make policies.

Learning agenda

In studying the committee, there are a number of avenues that need to be explored.

• Do Wikipedians think the committee has been an asset to their project?
• Are there things about the comittee that Wikipedians do not like? If so, what are they?
• How could the committee be improved?
• How could the committee's image be improved?
• Should other Wikimedia projects have Arbitration Committees? If so, why, and when?

Research agenda

Many Wikipedians (and other Wikimedians) may not know much about the ArbCom.

• Why was it created?
• Who created it?
• How has it evolved over time?
• How do they make their decisions?
• How are committee members appointed?
• What are the requirements and expectations of committee members?

Case studies

Pedophilia userbox wheel war (February 2006)

See sub-page at Wikipedia arbitration committee/Pedophilia userbox wheel war.

A.Z.

See sub-page at Wikipedia arbitration committee/A.Z.