Ideally I'd like to have SE recreate the formatting in Wikipedia, with footnotes and all. Any way of doing this, either by copying the source markdown, or — even better! — the RTF directly from the screen?

For instance, let's say there's a question about democracy (in a particular circumstance, or in general), and we'd like quote the Wikipedia definition. How do we change this:

    '''Democracy''' ({{lang-gr|δημοκρατία}} ''{{lang|grc|dēmokraa thetía}}'', literally "rule by people"), in modern usage, has three senses all for a system of government where the citizens exercise power by [[Vote|voting]]. In a [[direct democracy]], the citizens as a whole form a governing body, and vote directly on each issue, e.g. on the passage of a particular tax law. In a [[representative democracy]] the citizens elect representatives from among themselves. These representative meet to form a governing body, such as a [[legislature]]. In a [[constitutional democracy]] the powers of the majority are exercised within the framework of a representative democracy, but the constitution limits the majority and protects the minority, usually through the enjoyment by all of certain individual rights, e.g. freedom of speech, or freedom of association.<ref>[[Oxford English Dictionary]]: ''Democracy''.</ref><ref name="britannica">{{cite book |last1=Watkins |first1=Frederick |authorlink1=Democracy |title=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=1970 |publisher=William Benton |isbn=0-85229-135-3 |pages=215-223 |edition=Expo '70 |language=English |format=Hardcover|volume=7|}}</ref> Democracy is sometimes referred to as "rule of the majority".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy|title=Democracy – Definition of Democracy by Merriam-Webster|publisher=}}</ref> Democracy is a system of processing conflicts in which outcomes depend on what participants do, but no single force controls what occurs and its outcomes.

… or — even better! — that:

[![enter image description here][1]][1]

… into that:

>**Democracy** ([Greek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language): δημοκρατία *dēmokraa thetía*, literally "rule by people"), in modern usage, has three senses all for a system of government where the citizens exercise power by [voting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vote). In a [direct democracy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_democracy), the citizens as a whole form a governing body, and vote directly on each issue, e.g. on the passage of a particular tax law. In a [representative democracy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_democracy) the citizens elect representatives from among themselves. These representative meet to form a governing body, such as a [legislature]. In a [constitutional democracy]() the powers of the majority are exercised within the framework of a representative democracy, but the constitution limits the majority and protects the minority, usually through the enjoyment by all of
certain individual rights, e.g. freedom of speech, or freedom of association.<sup>1 2</sup> Democracy is sometimes referred to as "rule of the majority".<sup>3</sup> Democracy is a system of processing conflicts in which
outcomes depend on what participants do, but no single force controls
what occurs and its outcomes.
>
<sub>1. [Oxford English Dictionary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary): *Democracy*.</sub>
>
<sub>2. Watkins, Frederick (1970). *Encyclopædia Britannica* (Hardcover). **7** (Expo '70 ed.). William Benton. pp. 215–223. ISBN [0-85229-135-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-85229-135-3).</sub>
>
<sub>3. ["Democracy – Definition of Democracy by Merriam-Webster"](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy).</sub>


  [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/uRpuk.png