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?Town assembly (veche) summoned by bell, plus district assemblies; elected posadniks and tysiatskii; an elected archbishop; princes bound by sworn contracts.Popular assemblySortition / citizens' assemblyGrand Council of 50 chiefs chosen by clan mothers; questions pass between groups of nations, each seeking unanimity, with the Onondaga Firekeepers confirming or resolving disagreement.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?Joint courts of prince and posadnik, commercial courts under the tysiatskii, archiepiscopal mediation; frequent factional street fighting.The Confederacy describes the Grand Council as resolving disputes among the nations and planning for the welfare of all the people.Balanced briefing materials, trained neutral moderators and competing experts structured disagreement.
How are public goods funded?Paving, churches and defences funded by districts, the church and boyar patrons; merchant guilds regulated measures; no permanent bureaucracy.UnknownPrivately funded; produced published results, media coverage and a peer-reviewed study.
How is AI used?None; a medieval polity.No documented AI role.No AI role.
What are the main risks?Boyar oligarchy, factional violence in an assembly without fixed rules, dependence on grain imports, and absorption by Moscow.CLM-0363Operates alongside US and Canadian governments, which limits its practical jurisdiction; its rule of unanimity within and between blocs requires broad agreement.CLM-0117CLM-0118Self-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.