@chris replying here from your comment on the other thread
What is wrong with the existing systems like Requests for Comments ? Why does the fediverse need governance and not just standards in the manner that email has?
In another thread on SocialHub I included reference some research showing centralisation tendencies within Mastodon. I think it’s an example of what an organised body could work to study & resolve, without relying on spontaneous efforts
I read an interesting paper about centralisation on Mastodon: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10081553/1/arxiv.pdf . I think it’s relevant because it shows how central power can develop for instances (e.g. because they’re popular) or for groups of people (e.g. if the most powerful instances are in the West). In co-ops power normally resides with the people that founded it, and with the people who contribute most. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it can be - for example I think this is one of the things which worries people about Twitter threatening to get involved on Mastodon (“embrace, extend, extinguish”)