Imagine a political system where your neighbor could become a legislator overnight, not through campaign donations or party connections, but through a process as impartial as drawing a name from a hat. This system exists, and it’s called sortition – the selection of political officials through random lottery from the citizenry.
Ancient Roots, Modern Relevance
While sortition might sound radical to modern ears, it was actually a cornerstone of ancient Athenian democracy. The Greeks believed that true democracy meant giving every citizen an equal chance to serve in government. They used a device called a kleroterion – essentially a randomization machine – to select citizens for most administrative and judicial positions.
How Modern Sortition Would Work
Modern advocates of sortition propose various implementations, but most share common elements:
First, a pool of willing qualified eligible citizens would be created, typically requiring basic qualifications like age, citizenship, education and absence of serious criminal convictions. From this pool, individuals would be randomly selected to serve in legislative bodies or other government positions for fixed terms.
Selected citizens would receive thorough training, access to experts, and adequate compensation for their service. Think of it as an expanded version of jury duty, where citizens are given the tools and resources needed to make informed decisions.
The Benefits of Random Selection
Sortition offers several compelling advantages over our current electoral system:
Genuine Representativeness
Unlike elected bodies that tend to overrepresent certain demographics (typically wealthy, well-educated professionals), a randomly selected legislature would naturally mirror the population’s diversity. This means better representation for working-class citizens, minorities, and other groups often underrepresented in politics.
Freedom from Special Interests
When legislators don’t need to fundraise or campaign for reelection, they’re freed from the influence of wealthy donors and special interest groups. They can focus entirely on serving the public good rather than securing their next term.
Breaking Political Gridlock
Randomly selected citizens, lacking party affiliations and career political ambitions, might be more willing to compromise and find practical solutions. They’d be more likely to approach issues with fresh perspectives rather than entrenched ideological positions.
Increased Political Engagement
The possibility that any citizen could be called to serve would likely increase public interest in political issues and civic education. People might pay more attention to political processes if they knew they could one day be participating directly.
Real-World Applications
Some jurisdictions are already experimenting with sortition-based approaches. Citizens’ assemblies in Ireland helped break political deadlock on controversial issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. In Belgium, the German-speaking community has established a permanent citizens’ council selected by lottery to set the agenda for citizens’ assemblies on specific issues.
Addressing Common Concerns
Critics often worry about the competence of randomly selected citizens to govern. However, research on citizens’ assemblies shows that ordinary people, when given adequate information and support, can engage thoughtfully with complex policy issues. The success of jury systems worldwide demonstrates that citizens can handle significant responsibility when properly supported.
Looking Forward
While complete replacement of electoral systems with sortition is unlikely in the near term, hybrid approaches incorporating elements of random selection could help reinvigorate modern democracy. Citizens’ assemblies could complement elected legislatures, bringing fresh perspectives and broader representation to political decision-making.
Conclusion
As trust in traditional democratic institutions declines worldwide, sortition offers an intriguing alternative. By returning to this ancient democratic practice, we might find solutions to some of modern democracy’s most pressing challenges. While it’s not a perfect system, sortition reminds us that democracy was always meant to be the rule of the people – all of the people, not just those with the resources and connections to win elections.
The next time you receive a jury duty summons, consider that you’re participating in one of the last vestiges of sortition in modern society. Perhaps it’s time to expand this principle and trust more in the collective wisdom of randomly selected citizens.
What if we randomly picked qualified citizens to govern us? called Sortition aka. “Lottocracy”
3 Jan 2025 | What if we randomly picked qualified citizens to govern us? called Sortition aka. “Lottocracy” |
Table of Contents
Imagine a political system where your neighbor could become a legislator overnight, not through campaign donations or party connections, but through a process as impartial as drawing a name from a hat. This system exists, and it’s called sortition – the selection of political officials through random lottery from the citizenry.
Ancient Roots, Modern Relevance
While sortition might sound radical to modern ears, it was actually a cornerstone of ancient Athenian democracy. The Greeks believed that true democracy meant giving every citizen an equal chance to serve in government. They used a device called a kleroterion – essentially a randomization machine – to select citizens for most administrative and judicial positions.
How Modern Sortition Would Work
Modern advocates of sortition propose various implementations, but most share common elements:
First, a pool of willing qualified eligible citizens would be created, typically requiring basic qualifications like age, citizenship, education and absence of serious criminal convictions. From this pool, individuals would be randomly selected to serve in legislative bodies or other government positions for fixed terms.
Selected citizens would receive thorough training, access to experts, and adequate compensation for their service. Think of it as an expanded version of jury duty, where citizens are given the tools and resources needed to make informed decisions.
The Benefits of Random Selection
Sortition offers several compelling advantages over our current electoral system:
Genuine Representativeness
Unlike elected bodies that tend to overrepresent certain demographics (typically wealthy, well-educated professionals), a randomly selected legislature would naturally mirror the population’s diversity. This means better representation for working-class citizens, minorities, and other groups often underrepresented in politics.
Freedom from Special Interests
When legislators don’t need to fundraise or campaign for reelection, they’re freed from the influence of wealthy donors and special interest groups. They can focus entirely on serving the public good rather than securing their next term.
Breaking Political Gridlock
Randomly selected citizens, lacking party affiliations and career political ambitions, might be more willing to compromise and find practical solutions. They’d be more likely to approach issues with fresh perspectives rather than entrenched ideological positions.
Increased Political Engagement
The possibility that any citizen could be called to serve would likely increase public interest in political issues and civic education. People might pay more attention to political processes if they knew they could one day be participating directly.
Real-World Applications
Some jurisdictions are already experimenting with sortition-based approaches. Citizens’ assemblies in Ireland helped break political deadlock on controversial issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. In Belgium, the German-speaking community has established a permanent citizens’ council selected by lottery to set the agenda for citizens’ assemblies on specific issues.
Addressing Common Concerns
Critics often worry about the competence of randomly selected citizens to govern. However, research on citizens’ assemblies shows that ordinary people, when given adequate information and support, can engage thoughtfully with complex policy issues. The success of jury systems worldwide demonstrates that citizens can handle significant responsibility when properly supported.
Looking Forward
While complete replacement of electoral systems with sortition is unlikely in the near term, hybrid approaches incorporating elements of random selection could help reinvigorate modern democracy. Citizens’ assemblies could complement elected legislatures, bringing fresh perspectives and broader representation to political decision-making.
Conclusion
As trust in traditional democratic institutions declines worldwide, sortition offers an intriguing alternative. By returning to this ancient democratic practice, we might find solutions to some of modern democracy’s most pressing challenges. While it’s not a perfect system, sortition reminds us that democracy was always meant to be the rule of the people – all of the people, not just those with the resources and connections to win elections.
The next time you receive a jury duty summons, consider that you’re participating in one of the last vestiges of sortition in modern society. Perhaps it’s time to expand this principle and trust more in the collective wisdom of randomly selected citizens.
Discussion on Reddit
I have posted this question on Reddit: