Re: Selection Process

["Beast (Donald E. Eastlake, 3rd)" <[e-mail]>]

From:  Einar Stefferud <[e-mail]>
In-Reply-To:  Your message of 25 Nov 1992 18:29:49 -0400.
	      <[e-mail]> 
>I was planning to seriously propose that the RECALL arrangement be
>abandoned in that it is complex to define and very likely to never be
>needed.  Somewhere recently I saw "Don't write rules for cases that
>very rarely happen"... or something like that.  This is one of those.

I can't accept the above principle.  However, there are two kinds of
procedures (or perhaps a spectrum with two clear end points).  There
are regular procedures that you expect to be used routinely and
frequently.  Then there are "exception" procedures that are rarely
used.  The important thing about the exception procedures is that they
do most of their good by influenceing people's behavior even when they
are not used.  For example, I am a member of an organization where
memberhsip is normally controlled through a small membership
committee.  This membership committee is supposed to reflect the
overall feelings of the organization.  So there is a provision for
anyone to petition the entire organization directly for membership.
This pretition procedure is almost never used but it serves to stop
the membership committee from becoming unresponsive to the
organization.  Another good exmple is the provisions for impeachment
of the President in the US Constitution.  No President has ever been
impeached but this rarely used mechanism has been called "the fulcrum
of congressional power" and has real effects in limiting how far the
President can go.

Donald