Essay by Charlie Leadbeater, a response to Tacit Governance by David Weinberger. One of the outstanding features of David Weinberger’s writing about the web is his unwillingness to fall into the trap of making all or nothing, simple dichotomies. More than anyone writing about the web he understands and enjoys its miscellaneous messiness. So I […]
essay by Wendy Seltzer, a response to David Weinberger. “Rules are norms that have failed,” David Weinberger says in “Tacit Governance.” While his description rings true, the need for formalized governance is a sign of success, not failure. Our challenge is to move from norms to rules, building rules for the Internet that offer the […]
essay by Pierre de Vries, a response to David Weinberger. Are forests governed tacitly or explicitly? In the woodland near my house, only the red alder knows how to make its leaves, and the red huckleberry and skunk cabbage pick their ideal spots without having to be told. The shrews and raccoons decide what to […]
essay by JP Rangaswami, a response to David Weinberger and David Johnson. Human beings are complex adaptive systems. We’re surrounded by such systems, in nature and in society: our immune systems, our bodies, the natural ecosystems around us, the very society we live in. The Net is no different, both in its complexity as well […]
essay by David Johnson, a response to David Weinberger. David Weinberger’s essay suggests that we are better off, at least in the realm of “governance” of online activities, when we don’t (or don’t have to) write things down. His point makes sense with regard to certain types of online groups, engaged primarily in discussion rather […]
essay by Kevin Werbach, a response to David Weinberger. David Weinberger’s essay demonstrates that what we do know, but don’t formalize, can actually help us. His analysis is characteristically deep and provocative. However, the parts he leaves out demand a closer look. The real action lies at the interface between tacit and explicit governance mechanisms […]
essay by Esther Dyson, a response to David Weinberger. The whole point of the net is that it is decentralized and heterogeneous: One size need not fit all. Thus there is no need to resolve the question of whether tacit or explicit rules are better for online communities. But you can ask when to use […]
Excerpt:
Since governance is, like speaking, co-extensive with the rise of civilization, it’s curious that it has such a bad name. Or perhaps it’s not so curious. Governance, as an explicit social structure, codified and implemented, arises when tacit governance fails. At its best, explicit governance is a response to a breakdown. It rarely restores a society to its prior, unbroken state…
