Decentralised Polity

Decentralised polity is the church-polity form recorded in this atlas for religious movements with no central governing authority over the whole body, so that authority rests with local communities, teachers or lineages rather than with one office or council. Wikipedia describes ecclesiastical polity as the government of a church, and notes that there are local, congregational forms of organization as well as denominational ones. In this atlas the entity stands for the governance form itself, so denominations, religious orders and societies governed this way can be grouped and compared under it, while each member entry keeps its own governance facts and sources.