Local-Based Society

A governance philosophy and social model organized around the principle of subsidiarity: all decisions and powers should reside at the most local level possible. A "local-based society" views the neighborhood, town, or city as the primary and most legitimate scale of human organization. Higher levels of governance (county, region, nation) exist only to handle tasks explicitly beyond local capacity, and they derive their authority from the consent of the local units. This model seeks to maximize accountability, cultural specificity, and civic engagement by rooting power where people live their daily lives.

Example: Switzerland's cantonal system is a strong real-world approximation of a Local-Based Society. Cantons (and even communes within them) have immense autonomy over taxation, education, and law. The federal government's powers are constitutionally limited, preserving local sovereignty. This is why two neighboring Swiss villages can have radically different tax rates and school systems.

by Dumu The Void February 5, 2026

People-Based Society

A populist and often ambiguous term for a society where political legitimacy flows directly from "the people" as an undifferentiated, collective sovereign, typically expressed through mechanisms that bypass traditional institutions like political parties, legislatures, or a free press. This can manifest as a radical direct democracy using digital plebiscites, or it can be the ideological justification for a charismatic leader or single party claiming an unmediated connection to the popular will. The term is unstable: it can describe a utopia of mass participation or a dystopia of majoritarian tyranny against minorities and institutional checks.

Example: Populist movements on both left and right often call for a People-Based Society. A positive interpretation might be Rojava's democratic confederalism in Northern Syria, which emphasizes communal councils. A negative interpretation could be a system where a leader, claiming a direct "will of the people" mandate, systematically weakens courts, the media, and opposition, arguing these intermediaries corrupt the pure connection between leader and populace.

by Dumu The Void February 5, 2026