Forum Post: Democracy by Random Selection
Posted 12 years ago on Jan. 4, 2012, 4:48 p.m. EST by AussieBloke
(5)
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Hello Occupiers!
I came across a paper written in 1994 by a University of Western Australia mathematics professor named Dr George Christos that I think would be of particular interest to the Occupy Movement. To sum up his idea in only a few words it is a democratic system that is randomly chosen from the entire population as to have representation from all walks of life no matter what their role in society.
I was thinking that it would be a great idea for the occupy movement to implement the idea so as to have a scalable foundation for decision making as let's face it, as the revolution gains ground and you get a much larger population of occupiers it'll become almost impossible for every single person to participate in all parts of the decision making process.
Here is a link to a media release and the actual paper: http://danchristos.com.au/Random_Parliament/Media_Release_Random_Democracy.pdf http://danchristos.com.au/Random_Parliament/Democracy_By_Random_Selection.pdf
I love this idea, the only flaw I see is that the people have to be educated on policies.
No more of this cover-up, every single Congress meeting should have a live feed with maybe the video stored in an archive for someone else to see later as well as regularly posting what happened openly. The people should be able to remove anyone on the spot if they fail to represent them as well. The members of Congress etc. cannot actually enforce what they think is best but what the people they represent think is best.
Once again, everyone needs to be educated before this happens.
I think someone should give this try, we'll never know until the theory becomes practice.
Hmmmm. I think I like it. It's strange. Pineapples on pizza is strange too, but I like that.
I definately prefer representation over direct democracy. I think direct democracy is beyond ridiculous. But I'm not sure if I'm liking this idea simply because it is an alternative to direct democracy, or because it has its own merits. I suppose I feel like almost anything would be better than direct democracy decision making. I need to think about this. I hope this gets more responses. I would be interested in hearing other opinions.
Hi,
My name is Yoram Gat. I am a member of a group of people who are interested in promoting the use of random selection of officials (a.k.a. sortition) as a tool of democracy. We have a blog in which we have an ongoing conversation about sortition and ways to promote it.
The blog is at http://equalitybylot.wordpress.com - please drop by and join the conversation.
In many of the original settlements (around 1650), public service was a requirement and you were fined if you were selected and refused to serve, or even if you failed to attend public meetings.
LOL !
I have for years been arguing that the House of Representatives should be like Jury Duty. "Congratulations, you have been selected as the representative of your district in Congress."
that's just a silly idea
you are suggesting that by random selection I could be chosen as President, and thereby launch a campaign to purge all righties from government bureaucracy wherever they hide.
You don't want that.
Not by random selection.
Maybe by deliberate choice - but not by random . . .
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suuure... the ultimate glorification of random meaninglessness
What if a heroin addict is selected to become president?
What if as professional gangster is selected to become president? What if a mongoloid idiot is selected to become president? What if a serial killer is selected to become president?
Thankfully your idea will not be selected.
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