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While the Athenians were true about giving real power to everyone (rather than a facade of power in the form of vote every 4 years) , only the citizens who were
by buboard 7y ago
While the Athenians were true about giving real power to everyone (rather than a facade of power in the form of vote every 4 years) , only the citizens who were male had the privilege. Non citizens , women and slaves could not. Still, their model was more inclusive than democracy ( as most household had a chance, instead of 51% as is typical in democracy today).
Such an arrangement would lead to much-less-regulated societies, as people would be wary of weaponized legislation that can be used by their neighbor.
There is also something to be said about how contemporary democratic politics have been turned to emotional porn
You could also mix sortition with elections to minimize power plays, like the way they elected the Doge of Venice:
> New regulations for the elections of the doge introduced in 1268 remained in force until the end of the republic in 1797. Their intention was to minimize the influence of individual great families, and this was effected by a complex electoral machinery. Thirty members of the Great Council, chosen by lot, were reduced by lot to nine; the nine chose forty and the forty were reduced by lot to twelve, who chose twenty-five. The twenty-five were reduced by lot to nine, and the nine elected forty-five. These forty-five were once more reduced by lot to eleven, and the eleven finally chose the forty-one who elected the doge.[19] Election required at least twenty-five votes out of forty-one, nine votes out of eleven or twelve, or seven votes out of nine electors.[20]
- wool_gather 7y agoThat Venetian scheme is interesting, but ultimately it reminds me of a non-cryptographer trying to roll their own secure random number generator. Thirty chosen by lot, then by lot reduced to nine? Eh? Just choose nine to start with. Moreover (on the assumption that all the people chosen at each step are on the Council, which isn't clear) this looks like a system that will be absolutely rife with horsetrading and intrigue: "I'll vote for you on the eleven, as long as you (vote for P to the forty-one|support my housing bill|etc)". It may not be corruption from outside, but the intricate machinations of an in-group don't lend themselves to representative democracy either.
- buboard 7y ago> Just choose nine to start with. They probably wanted multiple rounds to minimize lottery fraud