Polity Atlas

How each model solves the same problems

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

Question✕✕✕
How are decisions made?Specialised functional bodies of citizens chosen by lot from those affected, coordinating by negotiation.Sortition / citizens' assemblyEach listed body sets its own well-being objectives and steps; the Welsh Ministers publish national indicators and a future trends report after each election.Kings of small kingdoms (túatha) under over-kings; assemblies (óenach); customary law expounded by hereditary jurists rather than legislated.
How are conflicts resolved?Quasi-judicial arbitration between functional bodies when negotiation fails.The Commissioner may review a body and recommend; the body must take reasonable steps to follow or publish reasons (s 22). The Auditor General examines application of the principle.Brehon judges; sureties (naidm, ráth, aitire); distraint of livestock; ritual fasting against higher-ranking defendants; body-fines and honour-price compensation.Arbitration
How are public goods funded?Supplied by autonomous functional agencies instead of a multi-purpose state or municipality.Covers the Welsh Ministers, local authorities, health boards, national park authorities and other listed bodies; public services boards plan locally.Rules on shared grazing, co-operative ploughing, mills and fencing; obligatory hospitality; churches and monasteries; few public works.
How is AI used?No documented AI role.No documented AI role.None; a medieval legal order.
What are the main risks?Unclear who counts as affected; weak accountability of unelected samples; coordination without a central authority.CLM-0310Soft 'follow or explain' enforcement; procedural compliance; difficulty measuring long-term and preventative benefits.Status-graded and unequal protection, unfree labour, endemic raiding and dynastic war, and vulnerability to a centralising conqueror.CLM-0385

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