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 dominant presidency with a small circle of security-service and business allies; a Duma controlled by United Russia; regional governors appointed (2005–2012) or elected under filters.Grand Council of 50 chiefs chosen by clan mothers; questions pass between groups of nations, each seeking unanimity, with the Onondaga Firekeepers confirming or resolving disagreement.Collective 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 office
How are conflicts resolved?Courts that rarely ruled against the Kremlin in political cases; elite disputes settled by the president; selective prosecution of rivals.The Confederacy describes the Grand Council as resolving disputes among the nations and planning for the welfare of all the people.Party discipline commissions, courts under party leadership, petition offices; mass protest met with repression, most lethally in June 1989.
How are public goods funded?Pensions, wages and infrastructure financed largely by oil and gas revenue; a reserve fund built in the boom years.UnknownFiscal decentralisation with local land revenues; infrastructure and education expanded rapidly; health and pension coverage rebuilt in the 2000s.
How is AI used?No algorithmic governance; growing use of digital surveillance and online censorship by the end of the period.No documented AI role.None at system level; digital government grew late in the period.
What are the main risks?Dependence on hydrocarbon rents, erosion of the institutions that could replace leaders, and escalating repression and external aggression.Operates alongside US and Canadian governments, which limits its practical jurisdiction; its rule of unanimity within and between blocs requires broad agreement.CLM-0117CLM-0118Corruption, local debt and land seizures driven by growth targets, environmental damage, factionalism, and rules on succession without independent enforcement.CLM-1089CLM-1091

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