This page is not open for discussion yet! Phase I is currently open for participation, but this page remains closed pending the outcomes of some more phase I proposals. theleekycauldron ( talk • she/her) 11:39, 27 March 2024 (UTC) reply

Welcome! Following the passage of proposals 16 and 16c, providing for community-based recall of administrators by petition, this subpage marks the beginning of phase II of RFA2024, in which we refine the implementation details of the big changes passed in phase I. The discussion close by Joe Roe is reprinted here:

Considering § Proposal 16: Allow the community to initiate recall RfAs, § Proposal 16c: Community recall process based on dewiki, § Proposal 16d: Community recall process initiated by consensus (withdrawn), in parallel, there is a rough consensus that the community should be able to compel an administrator to make a re-request for adminship (RRFA) in order to retain their administrator rights. However, there is also a consensus that the process(es) for initiating an RRFA needs to be worked out in more detail before this is implemented. Phase II of this review should therefore consider specific proposals for RRFA initiation procedures and further consensus should be sought on which, if any, is to be adopted. The dewiki-inspired process suggested in Proposal 16c was well-supported and should be a starting point for these discussions.

Proposal 16 suggested that a RRFA could be initiated by consensus following a discussion at the Wikipedia:Administrators' Noticeboard (AN). I don't see a consensus for this specific procedure, since a significant proportion of both those against and those in support the proposal were against it. The original suggestion that ANI and/or XRV could also be used to initiate an RRFA was rejected outright.

Proposal 16d offered a more fleshed-out version of an RRFA initiated at AN, but it did not find consensus and was withdrawn.

Proposal 16c suggested adopting , which obliges an admin to make an RRFA if 25 editors with Extended Confirmed rights vote for it within the last 1 month [or] if 50 editors with Extended Confirmed rights vote for it within the last 1 year. There was a solid numerical majority in favour of this procedure, with supporters pointing to the advantages of using a process that has already been shown to work on another project. However, considering the relatively low participation in this sub-discussion compared to the level of opposition to RRFAs in general expressed elsewhere, this is not necessarily a sign of broad consensus.

Amongst those who opposed this proposal entirely (i.e. not just specific implementation details), their main reasons were that desysopping is already satisfactorily handled by the Arbitration Committee, that it would discourage administrators from making unpopular but correct decisions, or that it could be open to abuse. The primary counter-arguments given to these were that other projects have community desysop procedures (dewiki, commons) without issue and that on enwiki the community can already impose harsher sanctions (i.e. site bans) by consensus alone. I cannot see any policy-based reason to weigh one set of arguments more than the other, so the substantial numerical majority in support (43–22 for 16; 25–9 for 16c) will have to speak for itself.

As written, the original 16C proposal was -

1. WP:Admin Reconfirmation will be created, where any subpages can be created for individual admins. Editors may sign on those subpages to vote for a reconfirmation.
2. The reconfirmation is initiated if 25 editors with Extended Confirmed rights vote for it within the last 1 month. Or if 50 editors with Extended Confirmed rights vote for it within the last 1 year.
3. Once a reconfirmation is started, the admin in question must run for a "Reconfirmation RFA" (RRFA) within the next 30 days. Otherwise a bureaucrat can remove their admin rights.
4. A RRFA will be identical to any RFA, but with lower thresholds. Instead of 75% "generally passing", it'll be 66%. And the discretionary range for Bureaucrats will be 55% to 66% instead of 65% to 75%. Any admins who fail a RRFA will have their admin rights revoked.
5. Any admins may voluntarily stand for RRFAs at any time if they like. This will be otherwise considered identical to a community initiated Reconfirmation.
6. Admins who have successfully run for an RFA, RFB, RRFA, or Arbcom elections in the last 1 year are not eligible for a community initiated Reconfirmation. Any votes for reconfirmation in the 1 year after an admin succeeds any of these will be struck.

This section is for discussing the ideas overall, including specific changes to 16C that would fix the proposal.