What kind of political system is Volconvo?

[fushigi]

Quote by: Isherwood Where's my little "wavy-wavy" emoticon when I need one?

What's "wavy-wavy" mean?

[Jack]

Like the Queen does...wavy-wavy...that weird little wave that beauty queens try to emulate.
I'm not saying I want to be a queen.

[fushigi]

Yeah, that one's not quite right. It's more of a Jackie O cupped-hand wave that turns in a radial motion like a satellite dish, I know exactly what you mean.

I guess our motto for site stability should be, "God save the ping."




:drumroll:

But seriously, folks. What I meant was that Volconvo is more like the parliamentary system of Britain, not the monarchical one. Though if you want to throw in the "descended-from-God, inactive in actual politics but still very important as a universal symbol" aspect, I guess you'd say Sean is the King and Jason's the PM.

[fushigi]

I think this recent incident with Athena has been very enlightening for me about the nature of Volconvo politics.

A user was was recently warned to put criticisms of the site in the Site Operations forum, and warned multiple times. She failed to comply with those warnings, and got a three-point infraction.

This shows me that Volconvo is not a dictatorship, benevolent or otherwise.

First, there is freedom of expression. Criticism is tolerated--welcomed even--so long as it's exercised in an appropriate manner. This is akin to American precepts of an American free press--journalists are free to report what they want so long as they do it in accordance with the law and according to principles respecting privacy and decency (i.e. no libel/slander, no lying, no abusive or foul content.)

Second, there is an appeals process, which is equivalent to a judicial system. The user can and has represented her argument against the infraction. The appeal was heard, considered, and overruled. After all, this 3-point infraction is itself just a warning, and there were warnings that the warning would come. It's akin to probation in the American court system.

My conclusion is that Volconvo is much more representative of user rights than I considered even when I started this thread--perhaps halfway between a plutocracy and a popular system.

Autocracy--absolutely not.

fushigi

[StrongHeartsWin]

Quite an interesting thread due to the slippery nature of trying to catch exactly what kind of political system this is.

I say it is a Mandate From Heaven with orbiting feifdoms that pay tribute to an emperror in the form of acknowledging his supremacy and obeying his rules.

Jason is the emperror, www is heaven/God, that allows Jason to reign here so long as he keeps heaven happy (i.e. not using his domain site for nefarious purposes), mods are his trusted knights or war lords who he lets administer the law of the land for him, donators are the ones who have thrown their lot in with the system accepting it whole heartedly, and regular members are those who reside within the domain, or for those who join but are not active -- move on to another domain outside of Jason`s reach (they are the transients, nomads, or homeless).

The law of the land i.e. the forum rules are ultimately issued by decree, but may have been influenced by imput from the citizens.

My thought is that it is a benevolent emperrorship who has not walled itself away from the people. History has made us view a dictatorship negatively, but I am not sure that a dictatorship is inherently wrong if the dictator rules with compassion, honesty, mercy, and an ear to the wishes of the people for benefiting the community and not soley one`s self.

But, what would the analogy of Isherwood (a donating mod[i.e. knight/warlord]) be in relationship to a non-donating mod?

And perhaps mods should not be cast as warlords or knights, because they do not have specific domains (i.e. forum categories) that they are assigned to stay within the borders of in administering the laws. Perhaps they could be more akin to roving justices like what the U.S. did in the western territories before set districts were set up for them.

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: StrongHeartsWin Quite an interesting thread due to the slippery nature of trying to catch exactly what kind of political system this is. I say it is a Mandate From Heaven with orbiting feifdoms that pay tribute to an emperror in the form of acknowledging his supremacy and obeying his rules. Jason is the emperror, www is heaven/God, that allows Jason to reign here so long as he keeps heaven happy (i.e. not using his domain site for nefarious purposes), mods are his trusted knights or war lords who he lets administer the law of the land for him, donators are the ones who have thrown their lot in with the system accepting it whole heartedly, and regular members are those who reside within the domain, or for those who join but are not active -- move on to another domain outside of Jason`s reach (they are the transients, nomads, or homeless). The law of the land i.e. the forum rules are ultimately issued by decree, but may have been influenced by imput from the citizens. My thought is that it is a benevolent emperrorship who has not walled itself away from the people. History has made us view a dictatorship negatively, but I am not sure that a dictatorship is inherently wrong if the dictator rules with compassion, honesty, mercy, and an ear to the wishes of the people for benefiting the community and not soley one`s self. But, what would the analogy of Isherwood (a donating mod[i.e. knight/warlord]) be in relationship to a non-donating mod? And perhaps mods should not be cast as warlords or knights, because they do not have specific domains (i.e. forum categories) that they are assigned to stay within the borders of in administering the laws. Perhaps they could be more akin to roving justices like what the U.S. did in the western territories before set districts were set up for them.

Hmmm, in other words...

Quote by: tmansdu08 Complete, unregulated capitalism. Jason owns the site and does with it whatever he wants since it's his property.

[fushigi]

Capitalism isn't a political system--it's an economic one.

Only commies argue that economics and politics are the same thing--1:1 equal. Believe me, I hear it all day long from my traditionalist Chinese colleagues.

[ZNFYRH]

Although, fushigi, an economic system like capitalism can be abused in such a way as to contribute to a corrupt government.

[fushigi]

Here we go again, I'll try to breathe life into this thread once more.

It seems Volconvo is currently going through something of a power shift--a political decentralization. The rule of law is being strengthened with more egalitarian application of the rules being enforced, and some entrenched elites are becoming reactionary as a result. Athena nearly left. Pat left. Gr8fuldaniel is close to a ban (I hope we don't lose him).

This seems to support the idea that Volconvo is--or was--an oligarchy. Now, the site is moving more towards the popular spectrum--democratizing. The proof of this fact is that many newcomers who have been here for a few weeks are among the top posters on the site.

Why are we seeing these conditions? Because of good, egalitarian law enforcement. It's similar to the period in the UK or France during the late 18th century when merchants became the bourgeoisie, and began to influence politics--at the expense of the nobility.

fushigi

[Chris]

Quote by: fushigi Republic? Still not, because we didn't vote. But it's sure not a dictatorship, nor is it a full oligarchy.

You bring up an interesting point. Maybe in the future if we are stumped at something it may be worth opening a poll to the membership to hear the "voice of the people" as it were.

In fact, I think this has happened before, with site operations.

[bishop]

yeah.. site ops was once used to offer commentary other than dictating how things should be run.

it is unfortunate how so many people seem to have forgotten the ability to debate without getting personal or tossing ad-homs at every opportunity.. and at the same time, as someone who's been here much longer than most, i remember days when members had MUCH thicker skin than some of the current crop.

[Osborn F Enready]

Ummm, its not a political system, its a debate site.

(yes, I voted other)

[StrongHeartsWin]

Quote by: bishop it is unfortunate how so many people seem to have forgotten the ability to debate without getting personal or tossing ad-homs at every opportunity.. and at the same time, as someone who's been here much longer than most, i remember days when members had MUCH thicker skin than some of the current crop.

And this is what leads to vagueness and contradictions. You, Bishop, as a mod, should not be sending mixed signals. Now, how is all that to be interpreted when everyone has a different filtering process? Is your skin thickness the standard we should all go by?

Contradictions is what is unfortunate because that is what sometimes leads people over the cliff when they are watching mod action in moderating and posting to guide them as to what is permissable. Better to have a stable standard from the top down, rather than tell everyone to callibrate their skin thickness and decide for yourself. The latter brings and encourages panedmonium.

[fushigi]

Heh, if you use the political metaphor, bishop's advice is akin to an elected official saying, "Yeah, of course we should punish companies found guilty of racial discrimination. But at the same time, those minorities should learn to loosen up a bit."

fushigi

[Jubloz]

Monarchy seemed to fit the best. imo

[ZNFYRH]

bishop

You really shouldn't be saying those kinds of things.

You're in a position of responsibility and authority and now you're basically showing that you have a bias. I know I'll be among those who, if on the receiving end of one of your decisions, will protest it on the grounds of that bias.

Basically, you undermined your own authority.

[Kamehameha34]

Extreme right: dictatorship, fascist, imperialist, monarchic

This is what I chose. A dictator could be slightly influenced by his people, but it's ultimately his decision whether or not he lets that show in his politics.

Plutocratic: monarchic, oligarchic, theocratic

I'm loathe to say that volconvo is plutocratic, because that has the connotation that the centralized government is far away from the people.

Popular: pluralistic, republican, democratic

We don't have guaranteed content polls.

Extreme left: socialist, communist, anarchist

First of all, wouldn't anarchy be extreme right?

Also, communism and socialism give the government more control over the economy, which I'd equate to "ideas" here in volconvo. There's no budget on those.

[tinybear]

Volconvo is a dictatorship. Isn't that quite obvious?