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? | An elected president, an elected House of Representatives and an unelected House of Elders rooted in clans; national parties limited to three. | Kings of small kingdoms (túatha) under over-kings; assemblies (óenach); customary law expounded by hereditary jurists rather than legislated. | |
| How are conflicts resolved? | Clan elders and customary law alongside state courts; national clan conferences settled the 1990s conflicts. | 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? | Security, customs and limited public services financed mainly by customs revenue; health and education rely on private, diaspora and NGO providers. | Rules on shared grazing, co-operative ploughing, mills and fencing; obligatory hospitality; churches and monasteries; few public works. | |
| How is AI used? | No AI role; iris biometrics were used for voter registration. | None; a medieval legal order. | |
| What are the main risks? | Disputed recognition; conflict in the eastern regions; delayed elections and an unelected upper house; press restrictions. | 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.