The Political Potential of Sortition PDF Download

Author: Oliver Dowlen
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
ISBN: 1845407040
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 271

View

Book Description
The central feature of every true lottery is that all rational evaluation is deliberately excluded. Once this principle is grasped, the author argues, we can begin to understand exactly what benefits sortition can bring to the political community. The book includes a study of the use of sortition in ancient Athens and in late medieval and renaissance Italy. It also includes commentary on the contributions to sortition made by Machiavelli, Guicciardini, Harrington and Paine; an account of the history of the randomly-selected jury; and new research into lesser-known examples from England, America and revolutionary France.

Author: John Gastil
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1788736117
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 449

View

Book Description
Democracy means rule by the people, but in practice even the most robust democracies delegate most rule making to a political class The gap between the public and its representatives might seem unbridgeable in the modern world, but Legislature by Lot examines an inspiring solution: a legislature chosen through “sortition”—the random selection of lay citizens. It’s a concept that has come to the attention of democratic reformers across the globe. Proposals for such bodies are being debated in Australia, Belgium, Iceland, the United Kingdom, and many other countries. Sortition promises to reduce corruption and create a truly representative legislature in one fell swoop. In Legislature by Lot, John Gastil and Erik Olin Wright make the case for pairing a sortition body with an elected chamber within a bicameral legislature. Gastil is a leading deliberative democracy scholar, and Wright a distinguished sociologist and editor of the Real Utopias series, of which this is a part. In this volume, they bring together critics and advocates of sortition who have studied ancient Athens, deliberative polling, political theory, social movements, and civic innovation. Without obscuring its limitations, the contributors offer a wide variety of ideas for how to implement sortition and examine its potential for reshaping modern politics. Legislature by Lot includes sixteen essays that respond to Gastil and Wright’s detailed proposal. Essays comparing sortition to contemporary reforms see it as a dramatic extension of deliberative “minipublics,” which gather random samples of citizens to weigh public policy dilemmas without being empowered to enact legislation. Another set of essays explores the democratic principles underlying sortition and elections and considers, for example, how a sortition body holds itself accountable to a public that did not elect it. The third set of essays considers alternative paths to democratic reform, which limit the powers of a sortition chamber or more quickly establish a pure sortition body. With contributions by Arash Abizadeh, Tom Arnold, Terrill Bouricius, Deven Burks, Lyn Carson, Dimitri Courant, Donatella della Porta, David M. Farrell, Andrea Felicetti, James S. Fishkin, Brett Hennig, Vincent Jacquet, Raphaël Kies, Tom Malleson, Jane Mansbridge, Christoph Niessen, David Owen, John Pitseys, Min Reuchamps, Yves Sintomer, Graham Smith, Jane Suiter, and Pierre-Étienne Vandamme.

Author: Gil Delannoi
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
ISBN: 1845407008
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 180

View

Book Description
This volume reflects the up-and-coming academic interest in sortition. It is based on contributions to the first international conference dedicated to the subject held at the University of Political Science (Sciences-Po) in Paris in November 2008. The papers explore important theoretical questions such as how we should recognise and define differing lottery forms; the relationship between sortition and different aspects and forms of democracy; and its potential benefits to current political and commercial practice. Contributors include: Hubertus Buchstein, Gil Delannoi, Oliver Dowlen, Gerhard Göhler, Barbara Goodwin, Michael Hein, Yves Sintomer, Peter Stone and Antoine Vergne.

Author: David Van Reybrouck
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
ISBN: 1609808118
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 182

View

Book Description
A small book with great weight and urgency to it, this is both a history of democracy and a clarion call for change. "Without drastic adjustment, this system cannot last much longer," writes Van Reybrouck, regarded today as one of Europe's most astute thinkers. "If you look at the decline in voter turnout and party membership, and at the way politicians are held in contempt, if you look at how difficult it is to form governments, how little they can do and how harshly they are punished for it, if you look at how quickly populism, technocracy and anti-parliamentarianism are rising, if you look at how more and more citizens are longing for participation and how quickly that desire can tip over into frustration, then you realize we are up to our necks." Not so very long ago, the great battles of democracy were fought for the right to vote. Now, Van Reybrouck writes, "it's all about the right to speak, but in essence it's the same battle, the battle for political emancipation and for democratic participation. We must decolonize democracy. We must democratize democracy." As history, Van Reybrouck makes the compelling argument that modern democracy was designed as much to preserve the rights of the powerful and keep the masses in line, as to give the populace a voice. As change-agent, Against Elections makes the argument that there are forms of government, what he terms sortitive or deliberative democracy, that are beginning to be practiced around the world, and can be the remedy we seek. In Iceland, for example, deliberative democracy was used to write the new constitution. A group of people were chosen by lot, educated in the subject at hand, and then were able to decide what was best, arguably, far better than politicians would have. A fascinating, and workable idea has led to a timely book to remind us that our system of government is a flexible instrument, one that the people have the power to change.

Author: Brett Hennig
Publisher: Unbound Publishing
ISBN: 1911586173
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 168

View

Book Description
Our politics is broken, but it can be fixed. A real democracy is not only possible — it is an urgent necessity. Provocative, succinct and inspiring, The End of Politicians combines insights from the history of democracy with a critical understanding of the information revolution to explain how we can fix democracy by eliminating politicians and replacing them with a representative network of everyday citizens. A wealth of recent evidence has shown that groups of randomly selected, ordinary people can and do make balanced, informed and trusted decisions. These citizens' assemblies are legitimate, accountable, competent and, above all, convincing demonstrations that we can govern ourselves. The future of democracy has arrived. It is time for the end of politicians.

Author: Wayne Waxman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793653992
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 199

View

Book Description
The Democracy Manifesto is about how to recreate democracy by replacing elections with government that is truly of, by and for the people. Written in engaging and accessible dialogue form, the book argues that the only truly democratic system of government is one in which decision-makers are selected randomly (by sortition) from the population at large, operating much the way trial juries do today, but 100% online, enabling people to govern together even across great distances. Sortition has a storied history but what sets The Democracy Manifesto apart is its comprehensive account of how it can be implemented not only across all sectors and levels of government, but throughout society as well, including the democratization of mass media, corporations, banks, and other large institutions. The resulting Sortitive Representative Democracy (SRD) is the true heir to ancient Greek democracy, and the only means of ensuring ‘we the people’ are represented by our fellow citizens rather than by the revolving groups of elites that dominate electoral systems. In the process, the book grapples with myriad hot topics including economic issues, international relations, indigenous rights, environmentalism and more.

Author: Hélène Landemore
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691212392
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 272

View

Book Description
To the ancient Greeks, democracy meant gathering in public and debating laws set by a randomly selected assembly of several hundred citizens. To the Icelandic Vikings, democracy meant meeting every summer in a field to discuss issues until consensus was reached. Our contemporary representative democracies are very different. Modern parliaments are gated and guarded, and it seems as if only certain people are welcome. Diagnosing what is wrong with representative government and aiming to recover some of the openness of ancient democracies, Open Democracy presents a new paradigm of democracy. Supporting a fresh nonelectoral understanding of democratic representation, Hélène Landemore demonstrates that placing ordinary citizens, rather than elites, at the heart of democratic power is not only the true meaning of a government of, by, and for the people, but also feasible and, more than ever, urgently needed. -- Cover page 4.

Author: Jeff Miller
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781788360630
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 240

View

Book Description
From the storming of the Capitol and the rise of authoritarian rhetoric and politicians to the challenge of global warming, liberal democracy faces a twin crisis of legitimacy and efficacy. Democracy in Crisis points to long neglected resources from the world's first democracy - Ancient Athens - prompting us to think beyond our current practices.

Author: John Burnheim
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
ISBN: 1845408993
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 155

View

Book Description
Demarchy exploits the possibilities of modern communications to give new role to public discussion. It takes the initiative in formulating policy on each specific problem out of the hands of political parties and into the hands of those most strongly affected by that particular problem. John Burnheim explains why this needs to be done and how it can be done by voluntary initiative without constitutional change.

Author: N. N. Rakshin
Publisher: XinXii
ISBN: 3987620234
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 454

View

Book Description
Joe Biden is not a democrat. A democrat is a person who buys roulette wheels in Las Vegas or Monaco. For what? For sortition, for real democracy. No Sortition means No Democracy. This book might be of interest to anyone who seeks The Etymology Dictionary of the Aryan Language. For example Moscow or "Moskva" is an Aryan word - "Mskv". "M" is many, "sk" is a bend, a crook, "v" is a river. Moscow is a serpentine river. "Ar" means a shooting arc or the one who shoots with an arc. The Aryans invented the bow. The word "Aryans" means "archers". London (Lndn) means a river (dn) that flows (l) backwards (n). Africa means people who carry (br) spears (k). The name Emmerich (Mrk) means a mighty (m) king (rk). So America (Mrk) means a Mighty Kingdom. I'm sorry to say America has never had an experiment in democracy. The United States is not a democratic country, and for this reason there is no Democratic Party in this country. The word "steppe" is of Aryan origin. The steppe is the site (st) for grazing animals (p). The word "star" (str) is the site (st) of puncture (r). Democracy is equal opportunities for all residents of the country to become a ruler. Election does not give equal opportunities. Whoever has more money advertises himself more. Whoever advertises himself the most is known to all voters. Whom the voters know, they vote for. Voters vote for the rich or the puppets of the rich. What gives equal opportunities for all residents of the country to become a ruler? Only tossing a coin, only sortition. There was no ‘union treaty’. There was a criminal offence of the Bolsheviks against Russia. There was no USSR. There was Russia under the rule of the Bolsheviks. The USSR was a fake by Satan. Yeltsin was the enemy of democracy and the executioner of Russia. The West is the Gang of the richest antidemocratic (plutocratic) countries. If Mr. Trump in the coming 3 years does not make the United States a democratic country, then in 5 years Nuclear Winter will reign on Earth.