Sortition – Part 2: the book, the AGM, and a strategy

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Brett Hennig

Here’s the latest on the new book on sortition, and two events in London next week: the Citizens’ Parliament strategy meeting, and the Sortition Foundation’s first Annual General Meeting.

The book: The End of Politicians is over half-way to being funded! It also has a new review by Professor John Gastil from Penn State University (author of Democracy in Small Groups) which you can read on Unbound: https://unbound.co.uk/books/the-end-of-politicians. If another 80 people pledge and pre-order the book it will be published.
The AGM: The first Sortition Foundation Annual General Meeting will be held at 6pm on Wednesday April 6^th at Rasa Restaurant (6 Dering St, Mayfair, London W1S 1AD). Please RSVP if you intend to come along.
The Citizens’ Parliament Strategy meeting: (http://www.citizensparliament.uk/) will be held from 1-4pm on Wednesday April 6^th at Le Pain Quotidien (16 North Audley St, Mayfair, London W1K 6WL). Please RSVP if you wish to come along.

Read on for more details on all of the above.

The End of Politicians by Brett Hennig

The End of Politicians, a well-researched book that clearly and succinctly argues the case for sortition, is being crowd-funded by the publisher Unbound: https://unbound.co.uk/books/the-end-of-politicians

You can help make this book a reality!

Professor John Gastil from Penn State University (author of Democracy in Small Groups) has reviewed the book and said:

Hennig has the right idea: Democracy requires innovation at any age, but especially this one. The End of Politicians doesn’t call for an end to politics, but rather to antiquated institutions over-reliant on a small number of elected leaders. That system brought us this far, but Hennig reviews many of the alternatives that are already reshaping governance, by injecting the wider public back into public life – not as a mobilized mob, but through more deliberative bodies. Reading this book gives a glimpse of what’s already changing and what lies on – or just beyond – the horizon of democratic political reform.

If you would like to see this book published and, perhaps, for us to take one small step towards a better democracy, please pledge now:

https://unbound.co.uk/books/the-end-of-politicians

And if you share this post with all your friends it will get funded even faster!

The First Annual General Meeting of the Sortition Foundation

When: 6pm, Wednesday April 6^th

Where: Rasa Restaurant (6 Dering St, Mayfair, London W1S 1AD).

Please RSVP if you intend to come along.

Come and hear what we’ve been doing for the last year, what our plans are for the coming year, and how you can get involved. All welcome but please RSVP through http://www.sortitionfoundation.org/contact

Citizens’ Parliament on Lords Reform Campaign Strategy Workshop

When: 1-4pm, Wednesday April 6^th.

Where: Le Pain Quotidien (16 North Audley St, Mayfair, London W1K 6WL).

Please RSVP if you wish to come along.

The campaign for a Citizens’ Parliament on House of Lords Reform (http://www.citizensparliament.uk/) will officially be launched later this year and will call on the UK government to constitute and empower a 650-member, random though representative sample of ordinary citizens to consider, research, deliberate on, and then make a House of Lords Reform proposal, to then be put to a national referendum. Please come along if you want to help develop the strategy for this campaign. RSVP essential through: http://www.citizensparliament.uk/contact