

Let's Toss for It - A Surprising Curb on Political Greed - panic
http://www.constitution.org/elec/sortition_knag.htm

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blahedo
A fascinating idea, but I shudder to think what kind of randomness generator
they'd use---too many people "trust the computer" and don't know anything
about randomness (and have never even heard the term "pseudorandom").

Although, the mental image of robed justices and besuited representatives
standing around a well-recorded table and solemnly rolling a d20 does have a
certain appeal. :)

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Tangurena
For more technical details on the machinery that the ancient greeks used to
select folks:
[http://www.alamut.com/subj/artiface/deadMedia/agoraMuseum.ht...](http://www.alamut.com/subj/artiface/deadMedia/agoraMuseum.html)

From the OP article:

> _The pressures of party politics have ensured that, although the formal
> mechanism remains the same, today's electors are bound by their party
> mandate to vote for the party's candidates; hence, the outcome of the
> election turns entirely on the party composition of the Electoral College._

In many states, it is against the law for an electoral college elector to vote
for anyone other than the party that appointed them.

Disclaimer: I actually ran for elected office in 2008. While I came in dead
last, I learned a lot and had a blast. In your local community, you will find
that there are part time positions that you (hah! even you!) can run for. If
there is an office you care about, then I recommend you learn what it takes
and then run for office.

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stavrianos
I haven't been blown away by democracy's ability to build competent
governments, and the self-selection biases are terrible. Hard to see how
chance could be much worse.

~~~
hga
"Democracy" (really small r republican government) is not designed so much to
"build competent governments" but to solve nastier issues like the succession
problem, the willingness of a current official to step down and allow his
successor to replace him. You don't have to read very much history to see why
solving this is critical.

I just don't see a coin toss conferring anywhere near the level of legitimacy
needed for successions.

