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 stratified random sample of 523 voters deliberated in moderated groups and plenaries and answered questionnaires before and after; no decisions were taken.Sortition / citizens' assemblyCollective leadership in the Politburo Standing Committee; party control of personnel through the Organization Department; local governments ran economies and piloted policies under central veto.Term limits and rotation of officeA statutory authority (UIDAI) under the central government sets rules; ministries decide where Aadhaar is required; Parliament legislated in 2016 and 2019.Digital identity
How are conflicts resolved?Balanced briefing materials, trained neutral moderators and competing experts structured disagreement.Party discipline commissions, courts under party leadership, petition offices; mass protest met with repression, most lethally in June 1989.Grievance channels at UIDAI and service agencies; constitutional challenges in the Supreme Court, which ruled in 2017 and 2018.
How are public goods funded?Privately funded; produced published results, media coverage and a peer-reviewed study.Fiscal decentralisation with local land revenues; infrastructure and education expanded rapidly; health and pension coverage rebuilt in the 2000s.A universal, low-cost proof of identity used for welfare transfers, financial inclusion and public services.
How is AI used?No AI role.None at system level; digital government grew late in the period.No AI in decision-making as such; automated biometric matching and deduplication decide authentication, and face authentication was added in 2018.
What are the main risks?Self-selection into attendance; artificial setting; analysis by the method's designers; no institutional uptake.Corruption, local debt and land seizures driven by growth targets, environmental damage, factionalism, and rules on succession without independent enforcement.CLM-1089CLM-1091Exclusion through authentication failures, data leaks, surveillance and profiling, weak independent oversight and function creep.CLM-0544

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