Bounty proposals can easily exist outside such a system and doesn't require an on-chain solution. In BitShares, they use a process called "BSIPS", for example, as a way to develop ideas for tasks that the community would like to get done.
If it's code that requires a soft or hardfork, then the decision to use it is up to elected witnesses to decide if they will use the code or not. For other tasks, there's no real decision maker, it's just everyone's opinion. If the community feels the worker didn't really complete the task, they likely won't hire them for future work, and the worker will likely suffer a loss of reputation (and of course, the worker has the option to return some or all of the funds if they want to avoid some of the reputation loss).
I don't think there's any need for a single common authority. Such an authority doesn't exist in BitShares to my knowledge.
But just because it's not necessarily needed, there's nothing to prevent the creation of one or more companies that do oversee projects, if stakeholders consider it a reason to support or not support a proposal (3rd party oversight by an experienced manager/company/etc). I think @xeroc runs one such company for BitShares, although I don't know the extent of what his company does besides escrowing and handling payouts in bitusd rather than bts.
Thanks a lot for the thorough answer. I appreciate it that you take the time to answer such ramblings like mine. Good luck with your proposal. I will certainly support it.
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Hear, hear!!!