 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | "Laws are like sausages — the less you know about how they are made the more respect you have for them." --Attributed to Otto von Bismarck. |
Wikipedia guidelines and policies are often created by a small minority of veteran editors. Very few guidelines and policies are vetted through a voting or consensus process. In fact, veteran editors often discourage voting, stating that it is not necessary.
In most cases, one user simply changes an essay template to a guideline, and if no one disagrees, this essay becomes a guideline. Once this essay becomes guideline, veteran editors then begin to more forcefully exert this guideline on all wikipedia editors.