1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving information, in a distributed document control system, specifying a locally saved copy of a first electronic document; determining, in response to the received information, whether the first electronic document should supersede a second electronic document in the distributed document control system; and storing, based on an outcome of the determining, information in the distributed document control system that links the first electronic document with the second electronic document in a superior-subordinate relationship such that when an action is requested with respect to the second electronic document, the distributed document control system forces an action to be taken with respect to the first electronic document; where the receiving, the determining and the storing are performed by one or more computers programmed to perform these operations.