How to propose amendments to Constitution or Manifesto of Indian Pirates:

1. To participate in these discussions, you need to create an account on codema. Use the login button on top right of the homepage to create an account.

   • https://codema.in/indian-pirates is the current discussion platform for proposing amendments to the Constitution or new items to the Manifesto. It is powered by Loomio software and the service is maintained by Free Software Community of India.

   • Anyone can see the discussions happening in the codema group (or sub groups). You can choose to receive updates by email and customize your preferences (you can chose to receive updates for every activity, once per discussion topic, no email notifications, etc).

   • Once you are logged in to codema, you will be able to start new discussion threads or reply to existing discussion threads.

2. On any thread, you can start a "Proposal" and clearly describe the proposed change. Depending on the significance of the change, provide enough time for people to vote. Ideally a minimum period of one week should be provided for changes that are not time critical. Also check https://pirates.org.in/constituion for the membership levels and minimum requirements for passing the amendments.

3. If you are proposing a constitution amendment, it is recommended to have "Constitution amendment: " in the title of the thread so we can easily search for all amendments later. Similarly, if you are proposing amendment to Manifesto, mention "Manifesto amendment: " in the title of the thread.
   

Rationale behind the decision making process:

1. Try to reach consensus among the largest possible public group on codema.

   • Consensus is not about majority, even a single disagreement is considered as lack of consensus.

   • "Block" vote has a special meaning such that it gives any member the power to discard any proposal. This helps to ensure that the voice of the minority will not go unheard. At the same time, since it comes with great power it requires great responsibility. A block vote should only be used if the proposal is against the Basic Principles of the Indian Pirates Constitution unless the proposal is to amend the Basic Principles itself. In all other cases of disagreement, whether strong or not, take care to use "disagree" vote along with sufficient explanation.

   • The difference between "disagree" vote and "block" vote is that the latter indicates there exists little to no chance for the proposal to get approved while the former provides more room for further discussions.

   • If the proposal is regarding an activity, it's recommended not to discourage anyone from it unless it is not against the basic principles. Those who don't like to engage in the activity can abstain from it instead.

2. If it fails due to disagreement, try to convince those people or find a middle ground.

3. If there is still no consensus, move the proposal to an associates sub group where people have publicly stated their commitment to the basic principles and the constitution of Indian Pirates.

4. If the proposal fails in the associates sub group, try to find a middle ground or evaluate if the disagreed person is well aligned with the principles and constitution in order to decide to move it to a members only group.

5. If the members only group cannot agree the proposal it will either fail or lead to the formation of two groups, in case such disagreements persist and members feel we can't work together.

Update on 20/05/2021: Fixed minor typos.

Update on 23/05/2021: Rearranged the contents more logically, added a couple of new points under the first section of rationale behind decision making process.