3 ms·
> The research I've seen (slight) is that a random person is, on average, a more competent statesman than the average politician. (This is a result of the self-
by barry-cotter 4y ago
> The research I've seen (slight) is that a random person is, on average, a more competent statesman than the average politician. (This is a result of the self-selection bias in people choosing a political career.)
This seems extremely unlikely just by virtue of the fact that the average person has an IQ of 100 and the average MP doesn’t. Practically guaranteed to be above 115. There are very large differences in education. The median voter in the US is over 50 and never went to, never mind graduate from, college.
- eru 4y agoYes. For that reason, instead of picking people directly at random, pick ballots at random to fill up parliament. In theory, you could pick random votes first, and then ask them about their choice. But there's all kinds of targeted influence possible at that stage. So let voters make their choice first, and then pick randomly. You'd need some kind of resolution mechanism for when multiple random ballots have the same candidate on them. Eg give the guys vote in parliament a higher weight, or have people write down multiple candidates in order, or just pick another random vote etc. (Some resolution mechanisms might work better than others. I don't know.)