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? | GiveDirectly and an academic team designed the study and randomised villages; recipients decide freely how to use unconditional payments. | 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 | A 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? | Programme operations and grievance handling by GiveDirectly; research oversight by ethics boards at MIT and Maseno University. | Balanced briefing materials, trained neutral moderators and competing experts structured disagreement. | Grievance channels at UIDAI and service agencies; constitutional challenges in the Supreme Court, which ruled in 2017 and 2018. | |
| How are public goods funded? | Donor-funded transfers to every adult in treated villages (about $22.50 a month in the long-term arm), amounting to some 15% of control-village spending.Universal basic income | Privately funded; produced published results, media coverage and a peer-reviewed study. | A universal, low-cost proof of identity used for welfare transfers, financial inclusion and public services. | |
| How is AI used? | No AI role. | No AI role. | 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? | Credibility of a 12-year charity promise; researcher–implementer ties; limited transferability to rich economies; results not yet peer-reviewed. | Self-selection into attendance; artificial setting; analysis by the method's designers; no institutional uptake. | Exclusion 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.