Autocratic – one person makes the decision.  When to use: everyone who might act is generally okay with what this one person will decide and do.  Warning: check on what they’re doing from time to time.

Consensus – unanimous decision required by the group.  When to use: small teams, lots of time to come to agreement.  Warning: never let one person be able to block the group from moving forward.

Majority – presidential system with separation of powers, and direct constituents.  When to use: quick decisions in big groups.  Warning: every group needs ways to be heard and get what they want somehow.

Proportional – parliamentary system, where each party has the number of representatives, where the party’s leaders, and not the general voters, choose the party representatives, correlating to the percentage of votes.  When to use: fairness is important with lots of people.  Warning: party leaders need to be limited from controlling how things are run too much.

Federal – teams of sub-groups only decide the broadest issues to keep the groups together, and each group decides how it will work on its own.  When to use: big groups which are okay with diversity and experimentation.  Warning: make sure sub-groups are united enough as needed, yet have enough self-direction.