Equality by lot

A reader of the Indian political news website ThePrint contributes a sortition proposal.

The case for Sortition to replace elections

For most democrats electing politicians is the essential feature to prevent a free society from becoming a dictatorship.

Questions are raised about the legitimacy of [elections-based] systems! Politicians have little in common with the people they govern. Parliaments around the world are filled with crooks, criminals, frauds, imposters, illiterates or incompetent, uninformed, immature, lazy or questionable people. Rent-seeking or the perks of the office seem more on their mind than fulfilling duties of their office or campaign-promises. Elections create the illusion of choice, a circus masquerading as exercise of democracy.

Sortition presents an elegant solution. It was first implemented in the democracy of ancient Athens. Instead of electing Parliamentarians / Alders, Members of those bodies are randomly selected from a pool of suitable applicants. It has been a widely debated alternative to elections to pry politicians from the hands of all powerful Party-Presidents without them falling prey to deep-pocketed donors.

• Removal of expensive time-consuming elections of Members of Parliament / Alder Board. Without elections politicians will no longer make unrealistic promises.
• A system with a random algorithm is more difficult to be manipulated than an election-system.
• Geographical Electoral Districts become unnecessary (ideal for nations with disputed borders like Israel).
• Members of Parliament / Alder Board don’t feel any pressure to reward political backers.
• Since success is the result of chance, an ambitious individual is less likely to apply or be able to help minions get elected into Parliament / Alder Board.
• Showmen have less ability to leverage star-power. The job of a Parliamentarian isn’t primarily to be a great orator standing at the lectern offering great speeches, but it ought to be a desk-job, perfect for nerds with attention to detail!
• The individuals, who end up in Parliament / Alder Board are independent from each other, not hampered by party-politics; they are free to cooperate with colleagues as they see fit.
• Parliamentarians / Alders will be real representatives of society, not elites or technocrats inside a bubble. One must have long-term faith in average people to grow into the role required for politics. Besides, Elected Officials (unlike Bureaucrats) don’t require extensive subject-matter expertise, but life-experience, wits, understanding of history and common-sense. In fact, from the moment of foundation India has been governed by highly-trained experts; their schemes failed nonetheless.

Any downside of Sortition can be found in other election-systems, but despite the various shortcomings, Sortition may still be both cheaper and better!

Filed under: Elections, History, Press, Sortition |