Career politicians are the bane and downfall of what was the concept of our "democracy".
Washington knew it, Jefferson knew it as did most of the original founders.
We now live in a highly technological society not present in the 1700s. The Franklin stove and bifocals were the high point of technology. In our political system today we have politicians who only know politics which has become nothing more than how to get reelected. The concept of "civic duty" which is what politics is really about has long been forgotten. It extends all the way down in government through the bureaucracy to government workers waiting for retirement after 20 years. Something largely denied to those in private companies. The government is now a corporation itself. (Thanks to Reagan,Reaganomics and privatization.) The government was never meant to be run as a for profit business. Citizens today are not even on the board of directors in this corporate "democracy". We have no vote or say. We are shareholders watching the corporation being bankrupted for the benefit of the few.
Citizen Assemblies are what is needed to correct the current disaster our government has become. Citizen Assemblies are essentially a government within the government. My fear is that they will be subverted by the government as being radical and the new "threat to democracy" by the corp owned media. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword, and the pen is now in the wrong hands. The right to protest has been completely taken away from taken away from us. The right to protest is a last resort. Massive numbers of arrests by militarized police quickly and effectively quell any resistance.
Sortition would go a long way to solving our political systems.problems. Had term limits alone been imposed generations ago, we would probably not be in the situation we are now. My only concern with this concept is the radicalized and extremist society we now live in. What would we end up with for individuals running the country? Would random selection work today?. It might make more sense to divide into categories like science, social, financial legal etc and then choose randomly. We no longer live in a world that the Greeks lived in but the basic concept is sound. The Greeks did not face climate change, ecocide or possess nuclear weapons. And didn't the Greeks conceptualize democracy?
Sortition sounds a lot more democratic. Every section of society should get a say in making law, not just the big blocks that can get control of the government. In Australia the indigenous people are only about 2% of the population, that is not enough to have any clout in western style 'democracy.' We have compulsory voting, so the mainstream, complacent folks in the middle have the most influence. They are easily swayed by giving them what they want, bread and circuses. (football and junk food)
Thanks for bringing up this topic. I realised this years ago when thinking about what would be the quickest and most straightforward way to improve the way society is run.
Just sack all the MPs and lords and replace them random people. It couldn't possibly be any worse than a system that selects the worst arseholes.
Like other commenters, I like a lot about this idea, which is why I want to spitball a bit on possible drawbacks and solutions. I think lack of knowledge (including institutional knowledge) and consistency over time would be problems with sortition terms of a year. For comparison, my place of work has a problem with rapid turnover, so that most leadership has been at the institution less than three years. This causes massive headaches for follow-through on initiatives, and the loss of institutional knowledge and consistency really hurts. So much time is spent just re-explaining situations, and just when you learn who is the "go-to" person with the right knowledge and attitude for the problem, that person is gone. I would favor longer terms (like keeping the House at 2 years, Senate at 6, and president at 4) so that there is some consistency and time to learn. Part of me would like some vetting of who's qualified for the pool (beyond judges), but there are good reasons our Founders resisted that in a democracy. Perhaps mandatory training could be substituted. I think a lot would also depend on the expertise of appointees--but that raises other questions about entrenched power (thinking of Sir Humphrey in Yes, Minister).
I REALLY like this idea. It would need to be introduced gradually. How about trying it out at the level of local politics first and use it to select only a portion of the political body.
Peaceful mass protest is the answer. Given representative democracies are reactionary by nature, it’s the only way to make a statistically significant change. Our own history proves it. Suffrage, civil rights, Vietnam, prohibition….
Open door here! I think Citizens Assemblies are the gateway. Sortition would require a higher level of general political participation than currently exists so that people serving their term would have a better idea of what it might involve and buy into the process. CA’s would help with that.
Every Biden voter in 2020+10,000,000 educated more members of the proletariat on a general strike with a list of no compromise demands could have everything they want in 10 days. The donor class needs consumers and labor capital. But we would rather suffer for a lifetime and bitch about it on Twitter.
Career politicians are the bane and downfall of what was the concept of our "democracy".
Washington knew it, Jefferson knew it as did most of the original founders.
We now live in a highly technological society not present in the 1700s. The Franklin stove and bifocals were the high point of technology. In our political system today we have politicians who only know politics which has become nothing more than how to get reelected. The concept of "civic duty" which is what politics is really about has long been forgotten. It extends all the way down in government through the bureaucracy to government workers waiting for retirement after 20 years. Something largely denied to those in private companies. The government is now a corporation itself. (Thanks to Reagan,Reaganomics and privatization.) The government was never meant to be run as a for profit business. Citizens today are not even on the board of directors in this corporate "democracy". We have no vote or say. We are shareholders watching the corporation being bankrupted for the benefit of the few.
Citizen Assemblies are what is needed to correct the current disaster our government has become. Citizen Assemblies are essentially a government within the government. My fear is that they will be subverted by the government as being radical and the new "threat to democracy" by the corp owned media. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword, and the pen is now in the wrong hands. The right to protest has been completely taken away from taken away from us. The right to protest is a last resort. Massive numbers of arrests by militarized police quickly and effectively quell any resistance.
Sortition would go a long way to solving our political systems.problems. Had term limits alone been imposed generations ago, we would probably not be in the situation we are now. My only concern with this concept is the radicalized and extremist society we now live in. What would we end up with for individuals running the country? Would random selection work today?. It might make more sense to divide into categories like science, social, financial legal etc and then choose randomly. We no longer live in a world that the Greeks lived in but the basic concept is sound. The Greeks did not face climate change, ecocide or possess nuclear weapons. And didn't the Greeks conceptualize democracy?
“People in government won’t have the expertise they need.”
More kakistocratic than this?
Ohhh Boy!!! Jesus, take the wheel and I’m an atheist!
Sortition sounds a lot more democratic. Every section of society should get a say in making law, not just the big blocks that can get control of the government. In Australia the indigenous people are only about 2% of the population, that is not enough to have any clout in western style 'democracy.' We have compulsory voting, so the mainstream, complacent folks in the middle have the most influence. They are easily swayed by giving them what they want, bread and circuses. (football and junk food)
Thanks for bringing up this topic. I realised this years ago when thinking about what would be the quickest and most straightforward way to improve the way society is run.
Just sack all the MPs and lords and replace them random people. It couldn't possibly be any worse than a system that selects the worst arseholes.
Sounds like the solution to all our ills!
Like other commenters, I like a lot about this idea, which is why I want to spitball a bit on possible drawbacks and solutions. I think lack of knowledge (including institutional knowledge) and consistency over time would be problems with sortition terms of a year. For comparison, my place of work has a problem with rapid turnover, so that most leadership has been at the institution less than three years. This causes massive headaches for follow-through on initiatives, and the loss of institutional knowledge and consistency really hurts. So much time is spent just re-explaining situations, and just when you learn who is the "go-to" person with the right knowledge and attitude for the problem, that person is gone. I would favor longer terms (like keeping the House at 2 years, Senate at 6, and president at 4) so that there is some consistency and time to learn. Part of me would like some vetting of who's qualified for the pool (beyond judges), but there are good reasons our Founders resisted that in a democracy. Perhaps mandatory training could be substituted. I think a lot would also depend on the expertise of appointees--but that raises other questions about entrenched power (thinking of Sir Humphrey in Yes, Minister).
Brilliant piece. Completely on point.
I have one point of contention.
The entire shit show is on “we the people“
It’s our movie. Personally, I want to make an epic.
There are enough great B flops.
And I realize most in this circle understand the dynamic are are in full agreement.
How do we enlighten the unaware?
The smart money is heavily on a giant asteroid. I think the epiphany is currently at 11 to 1
I REALLY like this idea. It would need to be introduced gradually. How about trying it out at the level of local politics first and use it to select only a portion of the political body.
That’s what citizen assemblies get to. Will explain more on Monday.
Peaceful mass protest is the answer. Given representative democracies are reactionary by nature, it’s the only way to make a statistically significant change. Our own history proves it. Suffrage, civil rights, Vietnam, prohibition….
Open door here! I think Citizens Assemblies are the gateway. Sortition would require a higher level of general political participation than currently exists so that people serving their term would have a better idea of what it might involve and buy into the process. CA’s would help with that.
Agreed. That is why I said CA’s were the gateway drug to sortition.
Duh!!
Every Biden voter in 2020+10,000,000 educated more members of the proletariat on a general strike with a list of no compromise demands could have everything they want in 10 days. The donor class needs consumers and labor capital. But we would rather suffer for a lifetime and bitch about it on Twitter.