Can the FAQ be Amended by a Vote?

Question

I'm curious as to if the FAQ can ever be amended by some process set forth by the community. This question got be me thinking. There is a community divide here. Wouldn't the best thing be, to ask the community to vote on whether the FAQ should be updated to make such "All Careers" questions on-topic when it relates to programmers?

Instead we just go back and forth without any resolve. We have high rep users who would like such questions to be on-topic. If a large portion of the active community doesn't mind such questions shouldn't they stay open and the FAQ be updated (I don't know if this is true, that's why a vote would help). If a vote should fail then obviously the majority of the community is OK with the current FAQ and that settles it.

I just don't think it's very good for the community to see questions where one knows that it probably will be closed (Not always right away) because it falls into the "All Careers" category. Then to see someone write a beautiful, helpful answer only to see the question closed. Then a 20 comment argument ensues between the closer, the OP, and the person who wrote the long thought out answer.

If there is not already some process, I think that if several high rep users want the FAQ to be updated then they should be able to set forth some motion where the community is able to vote on it.

Answer 1

The simple answer is "yes".

If you think there is some part of the FAQ that need removing or amending or you think that there's something missing then post it as a question here on meta.

The community can then vote and discuss the change, suggesting improvements, providing counter arguments etc. When there's a consensus a moderator can then make the necessary changes.

Answer 2

FAQ changes have been propsed by community members, voted on, and incorporated. An example that I have easy access to is my suggestion to replace "software law" with "software licensing" to eliminate questions about patents, trademarks, and copyrights that vary around the world and often need the expert advice of a lawyer, rather than a software development professional.

However user reputation should have little to do with the process. It needs to be agreed upon by active, participating members of the community, whether their rep is in the hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands. Often, reputation is indicative of participation, but it's possible for a new user who is extremely active to still have a small amount of reputation.