On 21/03/07, James Farrar <james.farrar(a)gmail.com> wrote:
It seems to me that the "constitutional
monarchy" model isn't totally
appropriate here, as in a constitutional monarchy, the monarch has
considerable power in theory but none in practice, as the use of any
power to over-rule the government would immediately lead to the
removal of the said powers from them and a move directly to a
republic.
Yeah. In extreme cases, e.g. [[Charles I of England]], the people will
express their displeasure by cutting his head off. Which probably
counts as natural causes ;-)
Australians will know the example of the [[Australian constitutional
crisis of 1975]], in which it was made clear that certain theoretical
powers could be used *precisely once*.
In the present case, it's clear the community will tell Jimbo to get
knotted if they seriously disagree.
I consider it useful to have Jimbo there. He's pretty level-headed and
most certainly has the encyclopedia's interests at heart. Mostly his
power is that (a) he speaks and people listen (whatever they think of
the result) (b) he's right enough that he's worth listening to (c) a
considerable reserve of personal loyalty from community members aware
of (b).
- d.