Polity Atlas

How each model solves the same problems

Instead of “democracy versus anarchism”, compare the concrete ways collective problems get solved.

Question+ Model
How are decisions made?Council of 92 elected on 26 March 1871; no president or mayor; nine commissions under an executive commission; a Committee of Public Safety was created later by a divided vote.A stratified random sample of 523 voters deliberated in moderated groups and plenaries and answered questionnaires before and after; no decisions were taken.Sortition / citizens' assembly
How are conflicts resolved?The National Guard Central Committee and the executive both claimed command. The Decree on Hostages (5 April) and summary executions by both sides escalated the conflict.Balanced briefing materials, trained neutral moderators and competing experts structured disagreement.
How are public goods funded?Rent-arrears remission, ban on night work in bakeries, return of small pawned tools, secular schooling, cooperative workshops and a cooperative restaurant giving free food to the poor.Cooperative ownershipPrivately funded; produced published results, media coverage and a peer-reviewed study.
How is AI used?No documented AI role.No AI role.
What are the main risks?Besieged city facing a national army; divided authority; reprisals including hostage-taking; only two months to implement decrees.CLM-0125CLM-0126CLM-0949Self-selection into attendance; artificial setting; analysis by the method's designers; no institutional uptake.

This illustrates differences in design; it is not a universal claim about outcomes. Each cell links to mechanisms and the claims behind them.