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?A college of Nine serving two-month terms, chosen from lists of eligible merchant-class men; a General Council of the Bell approving laws and taxes; a foreign podestà and a Captain of the People.Sortition / citizens' assemblyUnknownA 28-member General Council (half elected by parish, half by national list) elects the head of government; the co-princes sanction laws with countersignature.
How are conflicts resolved?Courts under a hired foreign podestà; co-optation of magnates into lesser offices; militias against conspiracies.UnknownA four-member Constitutional Tribunal appointed by the co-princes and the General Council; ordinary courts.
How are public goods funded?Palazzo Pubblico, Campo, fountains and aqueducts, walls and roads; financed by direct taxes assessed on a property survey and by indirect taxes.UnknownHealth, education and infrastructure funded by indirect, corporate and personal taxes; parishes run local services.
How is AI used?None; a medieval commune.UnknownNo specific role for AI.
What are the main risks?Narrow oligarchy controlling eligibility lists, exclusion of magnates and artisans, banking failures, plague and external intervention.CLM-0408UnknownClash between the episcopal co-prince and legislation such as abortion; exclusion of non-citizens; dependence on France, Spain and the EU.

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