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? | Irregular diets of town delegates deciding by agreement, recorded in recesses binding in practice only on consenting towns; regional diets; self-governing kontore abroad. | 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? | Kontor courts with appeal to Lübeck; arbitration between towns by neighbours or diets; embargoes and exclusion of members as sanctions.Arbitration | Balanced briefing materials, trained neutral moderators and competing experts structured disagreement. | |
| How are public goods funded? | Collective trading privileges, merchants' courts abroad, shared urban law, convoys against pirates; financed ad hoc by member towns. | Privately funded; produced published results, media coverage and a peer-reviewed study. | |
| How is AI used? | None; a medieval network. | No AI role. | |
| What are the main risks? | Free-riding and opt-outs by member towns, monopoly privileges that harmed outsiders, defence of oligarchic town councils, and stronger territorial states.CLM-0374 | 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.