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.

… to that:

Democracy (Greek: 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. 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.^{1 2} Democracy is sometimes referred to as "rule of the majority".³ 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.

_{1. Oxford English Dictionary: Democracy.}

_{2. Watkins, Frederick (1970). Encyclopædia Britannica (Hardcover). 7 (Expo '70 ed.). William Benton. pp. 215–223. ISBN 0-85229-135-3.}

_{3. "Democracy – Definition of Democracy by Merriam-Webster".}