Governance can relate to two different things: 1) the rulebook 2) the day-to-day exercise of activity that steers community direction according to the rulebook. The rulebook is a formal document, a manifesto, while the exercise is the living representation of what is happening in terms of governance. Rulebook can be a site page, activities take place as forum interactions.
Wordnik defines governance as:
- The action, manner, or power of governing.
- Government; exercise of authority; direction; control; management.
- Behavior; manners.
What does a government do before a regulation becomes Law? There’s a process of governance to that involving multiple steps that everyone needs to be in the loop of to enable them to exercise their democratic influence.
If we agree to have different steps / activity types, when can then make a list of which to track and how name them best. A “Call for Help” as separate type is maybe not directly governance, though we might also call it “Call for Action” as well and add a Priority High / Low to it.
Some contributions can be requested in issue trackers, but others that are mentioned on the forum may best belong there. Like earlier discussion on organization improvements (e.g. better website). How do people find that now? That could be on the Governance Log (or whatever name it has) as entries that link through to the related forum topic.