01 · Knowledge Atlas
Switch to graph viewAn encyclopedia of social systems
Theories, political philosophies, economic models, institution types and forms of self-government — each idea traced through theory, real examples, critique and results.
All entries · A–Z
- AI in governmentConceptUse of machine-learning and automated decision systems by public administrations — from triage and fraud detection to drafting and translation.
- Commons governanceConceptManagement of shared resources by their users through locally devised rules, rather than by privatisation or central state control.
- ConstitutionalismConceptThe doctrine that political power should be limited by a higher law that binds rulers and is harder to change than ordinary legislation. Having a written constitution does not by itself guarantee it.
- Deliberative democracyConceptThe view that democratic legitimacy depends on informed public deliberation, often organised through randomly selected mini-publics.
- Digital statehoodConceptDelivery of core state functions — identity, registries, services — through digital infrastructure, sometimes to people outside the territory.
- FederalismConceptA system in which authority is constitutionally divided between a central government and regional governments, neither of which can unilaterally abolish the other. Examples include the United States, Switzerland and Germany.
- Liquid democracyConceptA hybrid of direct and representative democracy in which members vote themselves or delegate their vote, revocably and transitively.
- Network stateConceptBalaji Srinivasan's term for an online community with capacity for collective action that crowdfunds territory and seeks diplomatic recognition.
- Polycentric lawConceptA legal order in which several overlapping providers of rules and adjudication coexist, rather than one territorial monopoly.
- Post-labour economyConceptA hypothesised economy in which automation sharply reduces the share of income earned through human work.
- Rule of lawConceptThe principle that government and citizens alike are bound by publicly known, general and stably applied laws enforced by independent courts. Definitions range from thin, formal accounts to thick ones including rights.
- Separation of powersConceptThe principle that lawmaking, executing and adjudicating should be placed in distinct institutions so that no one body holds all state power. Developed by Montesquieu and built into the US Constitution and Germany's Basic Law.
- Voluntary communityConceptA community whose members join by consent and may leave; membership rather than birthplace defines who is governed.