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? | 100 Parisians drawn by lot choose topics, deliberate in monthly workshops and plenaries, and table motions and a draft resolution for the elected Council to vote on.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? | Facilitated workshops and plenary votes; proposals are co-constructed with city services before being tabled. | Balanced briefing materials, trained neutral moderators and competing experts structured disagreement. | |
| How are public goods funded? | City-funded; outputs concern reading, housing renovation, street space, homelessness and loneliness. | 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? | Electoral-roll sampling excludes non-citizen residents; dependence on the Council majority that created it; co-construction blurring citizen authorship. | 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.