decisions

is sl government about the forms used to make the decisions that set sl policies?
or
is it about the decisions that set sl policies?

Well, if I understand you, then both. Because forms often influence decisions, and usually the first decisions that are made are about forms, which reflect underlying assumptions and set precedents.

Of course, having no form is a kind of form itself....

maybe that explains some of the confusion... some people are talking about forms and some about decisions.

I thought we were talking about forms. Procedures. Mechanisms for decisonmaking.

Presumably we're bringing in examples of possible undesirable decisions as a rationale to support our arguments regarding forms. In general people are hoping that if the form does not exist then we can prevent the the undesirable outcome of a bad decision.

maybe. but it occurs to me that one of the anti argumens goes "there are no decisions that need resident input therefore there is no need for resident government." at least that's how it sounds to me.

I've seen that, too, and it's a silly argument. Arguably, the main and perhaps only reason for a player-participation goverment is that so many issues in SL need resident input. And with so many residents, now, the input needs organization to be fair, just, and efficient. So I take your point as a call for basic definition and purposes and I think that's exactly what these debates need.

All of the above and more.

As sort of a footnote, I (later) discovered Random Unsung's posts on the difference between government and governance. You'll recall that I invoked a similar argument on your earlier thread. I just wanted to mention that my own argument was developed separately to his, as I was not aware of the posts at the time.

The reason I bring it up is, while the terms do hold some relevance in their usage... I think discussion here is about government (the body of power), governance (the processes), and their implications on the Second Life community as a whole. Where "government" is substituted for one of the other terms is pretty much irrelevant - I think we know what's implied.

Furthermore, I don't feel that this is a special interest either. This forum, and it's implications, should be about the overarching systems of resident interaction in Second Life. This is a pretty broad topic that everyone is a part of, and like taxation in Second Life, it is not limited to a small group of people.

Furthermore: