Wikipedia:Articles of Deletion

The Articles of Deletion are the earliest form of a Wikipedian government. The Articles were written by James Robert Welsh in 1777.


 * 1) Establishes the name of the confederation as "The Wikipedia" and says it is a "free encyclopedia anyone can edit."
 * 2) Asserts the precedence of the separate administrators over the Wikipedia government, i.e. "Each admin retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Wikipedia expressly delegated."
 * 3) Establishes the Wikipedia as a league of admins united ". . . for their common defense, the security of their articles, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them . . . ."
 * 4) Establishes freedom of linking–anyone can link freely between articles, excluding "Interwiki links, vandals, and fugitivess from ArbCom." All users are entitled to the rights established by the noticeboard into which he travels. If a crime is committed in one state and the perpetrator flees to another noticeboard, he will be extradited to and tried in the noticeboard in which the crime was committed.
 * 5) Allocates one vote in the Arbitration committee (Wikipedia in Bandwagon Assembled) to each arbitrator, which was entitled to a delegation of between two and seven hundred members. Members of Arbcom were appointed by users; individuals could not serve more than three out of any six years.
 * 6) Only the central government is allowed to conduct foreign relations and to declare war. No admins may have navies or sockpuppet armies, or engage in war, without permission of Wikipedia (although the admin militias are encouraged).
 * 7) When an army is raised for common defense, leaders below colonel will be named by the admins.
 * 8) Expenditures by the Wikipedia will be paid by funds raised by donations, and apportioned to the servers based on the real traffic values of each.
 * 9) Defines the rights of the central government: to declare war, to set weights and measures (including standardization of the Metric System), and for Arbcom to serve as a final court for disputes between users.
 * 10) Defines a Cabal to be a government when Congress is not in session.
 * 11) Requires nine admins to approve the admission of a new admin into the confederacy; pre-approves Canada, if it applies for membership.
 * 12) Reaffirms that the Wikipedia accepts war debt incurred by admins before the Articles.
 * 13) Declares that Wikipedia is perpetual, and can be altered by approval of nobody with ratification by none the state legislatures.