Sortition

The Keys to Democracy

Sortition as a New Model for Citizen Power
Maurice Pope

In this distillation of a lifetime's thinking about democracy, Maurice Pope presents a new model of governance that replaces elected politicians with assemblies selected by lot. The re-introduction of sortition, he believes, offers a way out of gridlock, apathy, alienation and polarisation by giving citizens back their voice.

Democracy in Crisis

Lessons from Ancient Athens
Jeff Miller

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.

Sortition and Democracy

History, Tools, Theories
Liliane Lopez-Rabatel

This book offers a historical analysis of sortition. It brings together a number of the best specialists on political sortition from antiquity to contemporary experiments, in Europe but also in the Ancient Middle East and in imperial China. It demonstrates that sortition has been a crucial device in political history.

The Demarchy Manifesto

For Better Public Policy
John Burnheim

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.

Lotteries in Public Life

A Reader
Peter Stone

Until recently, there was no theory to make sense of lotteries and what they can do. The past few decades have changed that with a veritable renaissance of studies on lotteries. This book collects fourteen of the most important of these papers, and offers a critical introduction tying them together.

Theory and Practice
Gil Delannoi

Essays deriving from the conference "Selection by Lottery: Theory and Practice" held in 2008 under the auspices of Sciences Po, in Paris.

Lotteries for Education

Conall Boyle

Lotteries are widely used to decide places (seats) at schools, colleges and universities. Conall Boyle explores many examples to find out why. The emotional turmoil that the use of ballots can cause to students and parents alike is graphically described.

The Political Potential of Sortition

A study of the random selection of citizens for public office
Oliver Dowlen

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.

A People's Parliament/A Citizen Legislature

Ernest Callenbach

Two essays, printed back to back in a single volume, offer complementary solutions to the democratic deficit in Britain and the USA.

Nature and Uses of Lotteries

Conall Boyle

Thomas Gataker was a disputatious Puritan divine. His The Nature and Uses of Lotteries (1627) was the first systematic exposition of a modern view of lotteries, not just as a form of gambling, but as a fair method of division.

The Athenian Option

Radical Reform for the House of Lords
Anthony Barnett

Before New Labour came to power and when even the prospect of reform of Britain's House of Lords was regarded with scepticism, the authors of this book developed the idea of selecting part of a new upper house by lot. This is a new edition of the original proposal.

Justice by Lottery

Barbara Goodwin

This book is about the virtues and social justice of random distribution. This revised second edition includes a new introduction.

Party's Over

Blueprint for a Very English Revolution
Keith Sutherland

This book examines the historical forces that gave rise to the modern political party and questions its role in the post-ideological age. If we all now share the liberal market consensus, then what is the function of the party?

Sortition

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