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You might also compare this with the traditional system of distributed dispute resolution that held sway in Iceland at the time of the sagas. While quite differ
by exratione 11y ago
You might also compare this with the traditional system of distributed dispute resolution that held sway in Iceland at the time of the sagas. While quite different cultures, many similar solutions and incentives acted to minimize violence between familial groups. In that case the system failed when it fell out of decentralization and into control of a sufficiently small elite for them to become a defacto government, but it took 300 years to reach that failure case.
A very high-level summary: https://mises.org/library/medieval-iceland-and-absence-government https://mises.org/library/medieval-iceland-and-absence-gover...
- ycmbntrthrwaway 11y ago"Machinery of Freedom" by the same author: http://daviddfriedman.com/The_Machinery_of_Freedom_.pdf http://daviddfriedman.com/The_Machinery_of_Freedom_.pdf The chapter "Private law enforcement, medieval iceland, and libertarianism" is specifically about Iceland.
- atom-morgan 11y agoA fantastic book in general for those interested in political theory.
- nonbel 11y agoNot just similar to the Icelandic system: "26 This is the second striking similarity we have observed between Somali and ancient Irish law. The Celts, in the course of their history, occupied many different places, but it is hard to believe that they got as far as the horn of Africa, so the similarities are presumably examples of parallel legal evolution—or, just possibly, common descent from some legal system in the very distant past. For a third similarity, consider that a favorite sport of both cultures appears to have been cattle raiding—in the Somali case camels."