Electowiki:Policy

Electowiki is very young and therefore does not have much policy. Unless we specifically say so, many of the English Wikipedia's policies apply to us, especially regarding formatting.

Links
Unlike Wikipedia, Electowiki is specifically for elections and voting systems-related materials. Therefore, only make links to topics that we will want to have here someday.

EPOV
 Note: this policy is new, and subject to revision. -- RobLa 22:38, 15 Mar 2005 (PST)

Electowiki has a policy somewhat similar to Wikipedia's NPOV policy. However, due to the subjective nature of the topics at hand, it's hard to have a strict NPOV policy without becoming a clone of Wikipedia. Thus, the policy regarding point-of-view is one of "EPOV".

"EPOV" is "Electowiki Point-of-View" policy. Basically, the editorial board (currently DanKeshet and Robla) serves as arbitors for what belongs and what doesn't. Over time, we'll try to evolve more formal guidelines, but for now, here's some general guidelines we plan to use:
 * We have a point of view. Electowiki tries to be a general resource for experts to get complete information, but makes no promises about neutrality.  Other sources, such as Wikipedia, should be used to obtain neutral information.
 * Err on the side of neutrality - while the EPOV will come out from time-to-time, it should be hard to distinguish it from Wikipedia-style NPOV in the vast majority of cases.
 * Fairness to other points of view - we acknowledge other points of view, however far out we may think they are. We strive not to rewrite history, or misrepresent the support or lack thereof for particular positions.
 * Latitude to editorialize on other positions - while acknowledging opposing points of view exist, we also reserve the right to comment on those positions in ways which may not be so flattering
 * Controversial points of view should be vetted on election-methods list - if there's a dispute over editorial policy, take it up on the election-methods mailing list.
 * Meta-View - A common met-view, largely shared within this wiki, is that the currently practiced electoral systems in many countries are woefully indadequate expressions of democracy.

Please let us know your opinions of this policy on the policy talk page.