[WikiEN-l] Comparison with other wikis

Tue Feb 7 21:52:05 UTC 2006

> From: wikien-l-bounces at Wikipedia.org 
> [mailto:wikien-l-bounces at Wikipedia.org] On Behalf Of Philip Welch
> 
> >> I'm sure that if Tony Blair decided to turn the UK into a fascist 
> >> one- party state, Queen Elizabeth would come down and say 
> "no, stop, 
> >> you're being stupid."
> >
> > This is a long established principle. Bagehot talked of 
> three rights 
> > belonging to the monarch: "the right to be consulted, the right to 
> > encourage, and the right to warn"
> >
> > She has far more experience than any current politician in the 
> > processes of government, and her advice would be valuable. 
> But she can 
> > do no more than warn. If she dismissed the Government and selected 
> > another more to her liking, then without the support of the 
> House of 
> > Commons, that replacement would soon run out of money.
> 
> Yes, but much like Jimbo, the Queen's authority rests in the 
> respect others have for her. If she dismissed the Government 
> and dissolved Parliament (she can still do that, right?), how 
> the people of the UK respond determines the ultimate result. 
> If they overwhelmingly choose to ignore the Crown and vote 
> the fascists back in, I suspect the Queen would be over.

We had pretty much this situation in Australia in 1975. The Governor-General
acted (using his own powers rather than the trifling powers of the Queen, I
might add) and speedily put the decision in the hands of the people. If the
people had re-elected the dismissed Government, then the Governor-General
would have personally been history and as an office would inevitably have
seen its powers diminished.

In a republican democracy like Australia, it is right and proper that the
people should have the final say. Sovereignty resides in the people rather
than any one person or group.

But Wikipedia isn't a republic and it isn't a democracy. Sovereignty resides
in the hands of Jimbo. However, with a purely voluntary membership, that
sovereignty is worth about as much as the community is willing to
acknowledge, because the citizens of this community may leave if they feel
uncomfortable.

I think it is a measure of the success of Jimbo's
administration/sovereignty/GodKingness that new citizens are flocking over
the borders, rather than leaving in droves.

Peter (Skyring)