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?Sovereign cantons (Landsgemeinde assemblies in rural cantons, councils in cities) linked by treaties; a diet of envoys bound by instructions; majority voting only for common lands.Popular assemblyA stratified random sample of 523 voters deliberated in moderated groups and plenaries and answered questionnaires before and after; no decisions were taken.Sortition / citizens' assemblyThe Prime Minister is formally responsible for Diella; the Constitutional Court states AI cannot change who exercises public power or bears accountability.
How are conflicts resolved?Arbitration by neutral cantons under alliance treaties; mediation by the diet; confessional peace treaties after civil wars.ArbitrationBalanced briefing materials, trained neutral moderators and competing experts structured disagreement.Opposition challenged the decrees before the Constitutional Court, which dismissed the request on 8 October 2026; its full reasoning is pending.
How are public goods funded?Communal alpine pastures and forests; cantonal defence; mercenary contracts financing governments; joint administration of condominiums.Privately funded; produced published results, media coverage and a peer-reviewed study.Aims to improve public-service access and reduce discretion in public procurement.
How is AI used?None; a pre-modern confederation.No AI role.Chatbot and voice assistant on e-Albania; a procurement system tender was still being prepared in August 2026.
What are the main risks?No common executive, religious civil war, oligarchic city rule, exploitation of subject lands, dependence on foreign pensions.Self-selection into attendance; artificial setting; analysis by the method's designers; no institutional uptake.Unclear accountability for an AI 'minister'; no AI law yet; no published technical detail; AKSHI's leaders face a tender-rigging case.CLM-0359

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