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? | Great Council of all adult noble men elected a Senate, Minor Council and a rector serving one month; real power lay with the Senate. | 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? | Republican courts with appeal to councils; diplomacy, tribute and neutrality in external disputes. | Balanced briefing materials, trained neutral moderators and competing experts structured disagreement. | |
| How are public goods funded? | State salt monopoly, granaries, an aqueduct, hospitals and orphanage, quarantine and a permanent Health Office. | Privately funded; produced published results, media coverage and a peer-reviewed study. | |
| How is AI used? | None; a pre-modern polity. | No AI role. | |
| What are the main risks? | Exclusion of commoners, a shrinking closed nobility, dependence on great-power goodwill, and decline of Mediterranean trade. | Self-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.