In the discussion following my presentation in the January DWE meeting, one of the participants suggested that a list of actions and activities that sortition activists can engage in in order to promote idea of sortition would be useful. Here is my attempt at a first draft. The possible actions and activities are categorized by the circle of action (internal, personal circle, wider circles). In addition there is a category of activities that are suitable for coordinated action. In some cases it may be worth expanding on the bullet items and giving some details, but I wanted to keep the list brief and manageable, so I intend to do this separately.
Please contribute your ideas in the comments. Hopefully we can create an improved, richer list in future versions.
Changing personal habits of thought and expression
- Breaking the habit of thinking and referring to countries with elections-based political systems as “democratic” (e.g., “the Western democracies”)
- Awareness of the oppressive outcomes of the elections-based system
- Thinking and talking about those outcomes as inherent to the elections-based system, rather than aberrations
- Rejecting the standard electoralist “fixes” (campaign finance reforms, term limits, the popular initiative process, proportional representation, etc.)
Action within the personal circle
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Filed under: Action, Elections, Organizing, Press, Sortition | 4 Comments »