Wikipedia:Constitution proposal

This is a proposed Policy formation under Wikipedia:Policy thinktank. Originated by I am sexy 06:27, 7 April 2004

This is a draft Wikipedia constitution:

• Wikipedia is an Encyclopedia. Any attempt to jeopardize its reputation as an respectable educational resource or turning it into an adult only site should be considered an criminal act against the years of efforts that thousands of wikipedians have put in so far. Violator should be rejected from the community.
• Everyone is considered to be a valuable and respected member of our community unless proven otherwise.
• Everyone who doesn't break the policy has the same rights, no matter their registration date or the number of their contributions. Discrimination against newcomers is not tolerated.
• Calling names (troll, vandal) without substantial evidence is considered a personal attack.
• All sysops' actions must be backed by properly defined policies and approved by at least one Wikipedian who is not a sysop.

Hmm. I liked you better when you were naked. -- Lucinda

#1 is just wikipedia:assume good faith. A good guideline, but you can't force it on cynics and curmudgeons (and we need both those sorts of people).

#2 isn't going to happen. Newcomers are not the same as veterans. They have different needs, they bring different benefits. Newbies aren't worse, but they are different.

#3 is tricky. "Vandal" is already considered an attack by many people (especially "BAN THIS VANDAL NOW!!!1!", etc). "Troll" is a matter of opinion. Some people thinks trolls are good.

#4 - the first part is already more or less true (wikipedia:deletion policy, wikipedia:blocking policy, etc). The second part makes no sense to me. Sysops are trusted to act on their own, with the understanding that almost anything they do can be reversed. Sysops who abuse that trust are desysoped. Martin 23:43, 6 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Maybe people would like me more if I upload my nude photos :-) But.. I give them only to friends who deserve them! Anyway! I must sleep at this moment. cu tomorrow! (did I say that I like to sleep naked?) I am sexy 23:55, 6 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I'll write a new one! A constitution must not only say what you may do, but what you may not do and how you do things. - Woodrow 23:52, 6 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Good idea. Hey, will you teach me some chess tomorrow? :-) I am sexy 23:55, 6 Apr 2004 (UTC)

There's probably nothing I can teach you that you can't find on Wikipedia. - Woodrow 00:03, 7 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Why not call this a charter, since a constitution generally defines a national or sovereign entity and a charter is used more appropriately for an organization or corporation. -- EmperorBMA / ブライアン 23:23, 9 Apr 2004 (UTC)

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This is a summary of Wikipedia policy. Policy is spread across many pages.

• Jimbo Wales is our leader for life. He may alter policy at any time.
• Ignorance of policy is grounds for forgiveness.
• Good faith shall be assumed for all edits.
• Personal attacks are subject to removal and those who make them may, in extreme cases, be banned.
• Administrators who abuse their powers shall be desysopped.
  • Abuse of power is defined as:
    • deleting a page when there is no clear community consensus to do so.
    • blocking or banning users who have not violated Wikipedia policy.
    • protecting pages that the community does not clearly agree should be protected or are not in edit wars.
  • Admins may not be punished if they abused power by accident.
• Vandals may be banned if they refuse to cooperate.
• The following are inappropriate for one's user space:
  • Pornography
  • Piracy
  • Journals of activities not related to Wikipedia
  • Personal attacks

Work in progress...