Exactly. Venice's govt was not a democracy - the Serene Republic was designed to basically filter in only the most influential, yet had a system of checks and b

Exactly. Venice's govt was not a democracy - the Serene Republic was designed to basically filter in only the most influential, yet had a system of checks and balances so that power wouldn't devolve to just one family (like what happened in Florence and Milan). Sortition was part of that system.