meeting | Equality by lot

Seminar: CAs instead of elections?

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Owen Shaffer

Democracy Without Elections is sponsoring a seminar titled “Citizens’ Assemblies and Lottery Selection as the Democratic Alternative to Elections.” It will be led by Terry Bouricius who, along with David Schecter, developed the nested assemblies model that was the basis for their implementation in the Ostbelgien region of Belgium. Topics include:

Why elections don’t work
History of democratic lotteries (sortition)
Why replacing elections with lotteries does not work
Transition possibilities from elections to lotteries
Using lotteries in boards, co-ops, condo associations, etc.

In this 4 hour seminar, you can review what you know and deepen your knowledge. Invite other folks who may be interested!

It will be held on Saturday 8 April at 12:30pm Eastern, 9:30 am Pacific, 6:30 pm Central Europe. Sign up here in advance.

Filed under: Elections, meeting, Sortition | 4 Comments »

“A Random Group of People” editorial in Seattle and town hall on Citizens’ Assemblies

Posted on March 5, 2023 by Ahmed R. Teleb

the Stranger, perhaps Seattle’s most widely read newspaper, has recently published an editorial by Ansel Herz, a former Congressional staffer in DC, now serving as communications director for Democracy Next, recently founded by Claudia Chwalisz (of OECD & Parisian Citizens’ Assembly fame).

In fact, this is what “democracy” actually is. In the 5th century B.C., the Greeks of ancient Athens coined demokratia to describe their carefully designed lottery system, under which any citizen was able to serve in parliamentary, administrative, and judicial bodies. Demokratia is not politicians, elections, and parties; the Greeks would have abhorred those, as many ordinary people—perhaps even you—do to this day.

“Their greatest gift was their passion for democracy,” observed the Trinidadian writer C.L.R. James in his 1956 essay, “Every Cook Can Govern”. The Athenians believed that elections were undemocratic; Aristotle called them “oligarchic.” It’s common sense that when only a handful of people can hold power, corruption is likely.

The Greeks recognized that whoever runs for elected office in the first place usually projects a peculiar power-seeking personality type. Having spent a lot of time around candidates who’ve won and lost, let me tell you: the Greeks were right.

After introducing sortition, Herz mentioned America in One Room, the Irish Citizens’ Assembly, and Brussels’s recent introduction of its own permanent CA.

In 2019’s “America In One Room”, for example, Stanford researchers organized an assembly of 526 Americans to deliberate for a long weekend. The group did not combust from anger and tension, nor did the participants retreat to their bubbles and cling to their beliefs. They found common ground around issues of trade, wages, immigration, and more. Democrats reported a 13-point increase in positive feelings toward Republicans; Republicans felt 14 points more favorably toward Democrats. Ninety-five percent of participants said they “learned a lot about people very different from me,” and 98 percent said they found the experience “valuable.”
Continue reading →

Filed under: Athens, meeting, Participation, Proposals, Sortition, Theory | Tagged: citizens' assemblies, Claudia Chwalisz, Democracy Next, Press, random selection, Seattle, sortition | 9 Comments »

Promoting Citizens’ Assemblies

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Owen Shaffer

Democracy Without Elections and Healthy Democracy have teamed up to provide a new seminar titled “Building Political Will for Lottery-Selected Panels in Your Community – A How-To Guide.”

The seminar will be led by Linn Davis on Zoom over two Saturdays: 11 and 25 February. Click here to reserve your spot.

Filed under: Academia, meeting, Sortition | 3 Comments »

Meeting: Sunday, October 23, 2022 – International Network of Sortition Advocates

Posted on October 17, 2022 by richwbrown

The International Network of Sortition Advocates will have our next meeting on, Sunday, October 23, 2022, at 19:00 GMT (London) [20:00 Europe, 21:00 Israel, 14:00 EST (2:00 PM), 6:00 AED].

The meeting will be held on our Discord platform. You must register on the app to attend the meeting. Here is your Discord invitation: https://discord.gg/6sgnrphp6w.

Once you have completed registration, to join the meeting:

Navigate to the heading “Talekanaler” on the left side of your screen (it’s before the “Linguistic Regions”)
Click on: “🔊General”
Click on: “Video

*Please note our desire to keep the meetings to a maximum of 1-hour in length.

Filed under: Action, meeting, Sortition | Leave a comment »

Meeting: Thursday, September 22, 2022 – International Network of Sortition Advocates

Posted on September 13, 2022 by richwbrown

The International Network of Sortition Advocates will have our next meeting on, Thursday, September 22, 2022, at 19:00 GMT [20:00 Europe, 21:00 Israel, 14:00 EST (2:00 PM), 6:00 AED].

The meeting will be held on our Discord platform. You must register on the app to attend the meeting. If you’re interested in registering on on the Discord platform and attending the upcoming meeting contact: Rich Brown at rbrowncmt@yahoo.com.

*Please note our desire to keep the meetings to a maximum of 1-hour in length.

Filed under: Action, meeting, Sortition | Leave a comment »

Meeting: Sunday, August 21, 2022 – International Network of Sortition Advocates

Posted on August 8, 2022 by richwbrown

The International Network of Sortition Advocates will have our next meeting on, Sunday, August 21, 2022, at 19:00 GMT [20:00 Europe, 21:00 Israel, 14:00 EST (2:00 PM), 6:00 AED].

*Please note our desire to keep the meetings to a maximum of 1-hour in length.

Filed under: Action, meeting, Sortition | Leave a comment »

Meeting: Saturday, July 16, 2022 – International Network of Sortition Advocates

Posted on July 2, 2022 by richwbrown

The International Network of Sortition Advocates will have our next meeting on, Saturday, July 16, 2022, at 15:00 GMT [16:00 Europe, 17:00 Israel, 10:00 AM US EDT, 2:00 Australia AEDT].

*Please note our desire to keep the meetings to a maximum of 1-hour in length.

Filed under: Action, meeting, Sortition | Leave a comment »

Meeting Wednesday, May 18th, 2022 – International Network of Sortition Advocates

Posted on May 6, 2022 by richwbrown

The International Network of Sortition Advocates (INSA) will have its next meeting Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at 20:00 GMT [21:00 Europe, 22:00 Israel, 15:00 EST (3:00 PM), 7:00 AEDT].

Please note the new day of the week, date, and times!

Google Meets Link to join meeting: https://meet.google.com/odm-nskw-ozy

Agenda Items Include:

Announcement notice of INSA online platform
Engaging participants without over burdening them
Continued discussion of organization goals
Team building activity proposal

*Please note our desire to keep the meetings to a maximum of 1-hour in length.

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Meeting Tuesday, April 26th, International Network of Sortition Advocates

Posted on April 15, 2022 by richwbrown

The International Network of Sortition Advocates (INSA) will have its next meeting Tuesday, April 26, 2022 at 19:00 GMT [20:00 Europe, 21:00 Israel, 14:00 EST (2:00 PM), 6:00 AEDT].