meta: add some clarification to the nomination process

Author: jasnell

GOVERNANCE.md

@@ -144,6 +144,18 @@ Contributions can be:
 * Participation in other projects, teams, and working groups of the Node.js
   organization.
 
+Collaborators should be people volunteering to do unglamorous work because it's
+the right thing to do, they find the work itself satisfying, and they care about
+Node.js and its users. People should get collaborator status because they're
+doing work and are likely to continue doing work where having the abilities that
+come with collaborator status are helpful (abilities like starting CI jobs,
+reviewing and approving PRs, etc). That will usually--but, very importantly, not
+always--be work involving commiting to the `nodejs/node` repository. For an example
+of an exception, someone working primarily on the website might benefit from being
+able to start Jenkins CI jobs to test changes to documentation tooling. That,
+along with signals indicating commitment to Node.js, personal integrity, etc.,
+should be enough for a successful nomination.
+
 ### Nominating a new Collaborator
 
 To nominate a new Collaborator, open an issue in the [nodejs/node][] repository.
@@ -169,9 +181,18 @@ Provide a summary of the nominee's contributions. For example:
 Mention @nodejs/collaborators in the issue to notify other collaborators about
 the nomination.
 
-The nomination passes if no collaborators oppose it after one week. In the case
-of an objection, the TSC is responsible for working with the individuals
-involved and finding a resolution.
+The nomination passes if no collaborators explicitly oppose it after one week.
+In the case of an objection, the TSC is responsible for working with the
+individuals involved and finding a resolution. The TSC may, following
+typical TSC consensus seeking processes, choose to advance or block a
+nomination that has otherwise failed to reach a natural consensus or clear
+path forward even if there are outstanding objections.
+
+Explicit opposition would typically be signaled as some form of clear
+and unambiguous comment like, "I don't believe this nomination should pass"
+or use of the thumbs-down emoji reaction. _Ideally_ these would be paired
+with clear suggestions for positive, concrete, and unambiguous next steps
+that the nominee can take to overcome the objection to allow it to pass.
 
 There are steps a nominator can take in advance to make a nomination as
 frictionless as possible. To request feedback from other collaborators in
@@ -181,7 +202,9 @@ nominee to improve their contribution profile.
 
 Collaborators might overlook someone with valuable contributions. In that case,
 the contributor may open an issue or contact a collaborator to request a
-nomination.
+nomination. Such "self-nominations" follow the same process as regular
+nomination -- that is, the contributor is not nominated until an existing
+Collaborator formally proposes it and opens the discussion.
 
 #### How to review a collaborator nomination
 
@@ -206,11 +229,22 @@ push commits, etc.), so what's the minimal amount is subjective, and there will
 be cases where collaborators disagree on whether a nomination should move
 forward.
 
+An important rule of thumb is that the nomination process is intended to be
+biased strongly towards implicit approval of the nomination. This means
+discussion and review around the proposal should ideally be more geared
+towards "I have reasons to say no..." as opposed to "Give me reasons to say
+yes...".
+
 When concerns have been raised on the private discussion, refrain from opening
 the public issue. If no one has explicitly blocked the nomination and you'd like
 it to move forward, comment something like "If I don't hear any objections
 before (some time), I will open the public issue".
 
+Also refrain from discussing or debating aspects of the nomination process
+itself directly within a nomination private discussion or public issue.
+Such discussions can derail and frustrate the nomination and cause unnecessary
+friction. Move such discussions to a separate issue or discussion thread.
+
 ### Onboarding
 
 After the nomination passes, a TSC member onboards the new collaborator. See