Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Democratic Lottery?
A democratic lottery is a method to construct a democratic governing body. This method of democracy has been practiced historically all over the world, including in Ancient Athens and Renaissance era Italy. Today, many world governments now use democratic lotteries to assemble Citizens' Assemblies to help decide on the toughest decisions government must make. Topics debated include Climate Change, abortion, gay marriage, election reform, and others. These Citizens' Assemblies have gained a reputation of being able to cut through partisan divides and come to consensus on future-focused decisions.
The most familiar example of democratic lotteries is found in American jury duty, where everyday Americans are tasked with decision making in our justice system.
Democratic lotteries are otherwise known as sortition or lottocracy.
Why Lotteries?
Imagine a Congress that actually looks like America. It's filled with nurses, farmers, engineers, waitresses, teachers, accountants, pastors, soldiers, stay-at-home-parents, and retirees. They are conservatives, liberals, and moderates from all parts of the country and all walks of life. Democratic lotteries are the only way to achieve such a Congress. Democratic Lotteries guarantee a Congress that is descriptively representative of the American public.
What examples of democratic lotteries have been conducted in the world?
Hundreds of lottocratic assemblies such as Citizens' Assemblies have already been conducted in Canada [11], Ireland, France, the UK, Scotland, Mongolia, America, and elsewhere. Again and again, participants of such assemblies have reiterated the claimed benefits of sortition.
Aren't normal people too stupid to be trusted?
Democratic Lotteries fortunately construct deliberative bodies that are competent. According to top academic journal Science Magazine (2019) [5],
“Deliberative experimentation has generated empirical research that refutes many of the more pessimistic claims about the citizenry’s ability to make sound judgments…. Ordinary people are capable of high-quality deliberation, especially when deliberative processes are well-arranged: when they include the provision of balanced information, expert testimony, and oversight by a facilitator."
Deliberation can overcome polarization, echo chambers, and extremism. Democratic deliberation promotes “considered judgment” and “counteracts populism”:
The communicative echo chambers that intensify cultural cognition, identity reaffirmation, and polarization do not operate in deliberative conditions, even in groups of like-minded partisans. In deliberative conditions, the group becomes less extreme; absent deliberative conditions, the members become more extreme.