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? | 104 randomly selected residents, stratified including by constitutional attitudes, deliberated over eight weekends and voted on a vision and 60 recommendations.Sortition / citizens' assembly | 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? | Independent conveners and facilitated small groups; no means to resolve the boycott by parties that viewed the assembly as partisan. | Balanced briefing materials, trained neutral moderators and competing experts structured disagreement. | |
| How are public goods funded? | Government-funded (final cost £0.938 million); produced recommendations and a model for later Scottish assemblies. | Privately funded; produced published results, media coverage and a peer-reviewed study. | |
| How is AI used? | No AI role. | No AI role. | |
| What are the main risks? | Perception of partisan purpose; remit too broad to produce implementable proposals; non-binding status and a general government response. | 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.