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? | A federal assembly of delegates from about 23 cities, with three, two or one votes per city by size; it elected the Lyciarch and federal officials. | Kings of small kingdoms (túatha) under over-kings; assemblies (óenach); customary law expounded by hereditary jurists rather than legislated. | |
| How are conflicts resolved? | Federal courts with judges drawn from cities in proportion to their votes; treaties with Rome regulated external jurisdiction. | 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? | Federal cults and sanctuaries, coinage and courts, financed by contributions proportional to votes; later, benefactions by wealthy Lyciarchs. | Rules on shared grazing, co-operative ploughing, mills and fencing; obligatory hospitality; churches and monasteries; few public works. | |
| How is AI used? | None; an ancient federation. | None; a medieval legal order. | |
| What are the main risks? | Elite domination of city delegations, dependence on Rome for security and foreign policy, and annexation. | 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.