As I have posted and participated in several forums, I have been intrigued to find how well they can model governments. In my observations I have found that there is a great deal of diversity and creativity in posts when moderation is light and the rules are liberal (in a classical sense). Forums with tight moderation are nearly the opposite. New ideas, especially the ones considered radical to the average poster, are flamed upon and eventually the topic is locked.
What came to mind was an experiment. If a forum was created with several sub-forums, i.e Anarchy, Constitutional Republic, Democracy, Socialism, and Communism, and if these forums elected moderators and defined rules based on each idealogy, then it would be interesting to see how it would all play out.
I've also considered another way this experiment could take place, in a MMO, based on the same concept described.
If thought out carefully and created faithfully to each system, I believe this could be a quite educational and fascinating experiment.
Thoughts?
