User:Jvol

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I am fascinated by the idea of Wikipedia, and by watching the process of evolution of articles.

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just getting the hang. have added to two articles.

User:Seth_Ilys/Trifecta

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Seth's entry is still more or less true. I've actually done several edits now, tho still getting some of the finer points.

I've gone back to 'liberal democracy' several times now, as its a topic that evolves quickly, everybody has an opinion. First motivated to edit because I noticed a (racial?) bias in the listing of examples - all white-people places! I expanded and generalized the list, noticed later that my generalizations had been editted out but that some of the specific examples from Asia, etc had been left in, so pretty much left it at that. (tho i did throw in a couple more specifics) Another more subtle aspect of bias I noticed there was that of seeing the American system presented as the pinnacle of possible evolution of liberal democracy. While the US is generally considered a liberal democracy, its particulars reflect a rather creaky system that in most respects has not been updated for 200 years - making it now the oldest government on earth, now behind the forefront of political evolution. (Since 1789, every other nation has emerged from colonialism, suffered coups or revolutions, or had significant power shifted from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional/ceremonial one.) While there are ongoing arguments for and against paliamentary systems vs presidential ones, no modern political scientist defends the electoral college. Another serious weakness: three or more choices among viable parties is a clearly a broader field than two (just as two are broader than one), offering an undisputably broader range of choices, resulting in a government that, on average, more closely represents the will of its people. Therefore, the fact that the United States is at present an enfoced two-party system is also indication of backwardness. My original edit aimed at countering this bias has since been re-editted, but other voices have since added more variety. I'm still watching..

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I've added a field the chart of national governments - Date of Origin. this is because I have several times been part of conversations -in person and online- debating what the oldest governments are. debate as to what constitutes an 'origin' will make this an interesting place to watch. (or maybe I'm just a gov't-geek)

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In early Sept 07 I created a new page: Paul Addis. As I know he's a controversial public figure, I kept it extremely minimal (two paragraphs) and very carefully neutral (no opinions expressed about his actions or stance). Article has since been entirely deleted, and I can find no references anywhere in wikipedia as to what happened or why, even though I have read elsewhere on the net that there are such discussions ongoing somewhere on wikipedia. The fact that an author cannot find such discussion less than a month after the original writing -I've checked a dozen help pages and tried several kids of searches- is an indication that perhaps some change in transparency of process is in order.

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about me: http://l-pad.com http://torchery.org http://people.tribe.net/9c68c238-6240-4836-8cd0-d196878f6ee9

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