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I think a more interesting question is: why do Americans elect Lawyers? It's the most common profession in Congress (not including the self-referential "politi

I think a more interesting question is: why do Americans elect Lawyers? It's the most common profession in Congress (not including the self-referential "politics" answer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Members_of_the_111th_United_States_Congress#Occupational_background http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Members_of_the_111th_United_Sta...). Both presidential candidates are Harvard Law students as well. I understand why Lawyers would want to become Lawmakers. I don't understand however such an unpopular field manages to get elected so often. My new theory is that the House Representatives (not the Senate or Executive Branch) should be selected not by election but by random lottery, similar to jury duty. It would be much more representative of the populous than what we have today.

ionforce 14y ago
Do you really want random, uneducated people wielding that much power? People who idolize celebrities?
- cobrausn 14y ago
  It's this kind of attitude that makes geeks / scientists generally disliked by the 'celebrity-idolizing' masses. My guess is the average person who would meet the qualifications to represent in the house (i.e., read, write, good standing with the law, etc) is probably more intelligent than you think, and a basic competency test could weed out those who aren't.
- TallGuyShort 14y ago
  Things like SOPA fail to convince me of the quality of education held by current lawmakers.
antidoh 14y ago
We elect lawyers because they're good at talking us into it. They're advocates.
GFischer 14y ago
I've read about that before :) , there was also a short story by Asimov in which the Voter was chosen at random. For example, here's a paper from Yale: http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2027&context=fss_papers http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?artic... some random blogs: http://equalitybylot.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/ben-saunders-combining-lotteries-and-voting/ http://equalitybylot.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/ben-saunders-c...

ionforce 14y ago

Do you really want random, uneducated people wielding that much power? People who idolize celebrities?

cobrausn 14y ago
It's this kind of attitude that makes geeks / scientists generally disliked by the 'celebrity-idolizing' masses. My guess is the average person who would meet the qualifications to represent in the house (i.e., read, write, good standing with the law, etc) is probably more intelligent than you think, and a basic competency test could weed out those who aren't.
TallGuyShort 14y ago
Things like SOPA fail to convince me of the quality of education held by current lawmakers.

antidoh 14y ago

We elect lawyers because they're good at talking us into it. They're advocates.

GFischer 14y ago

I've read about that before :) , there was also a short story by Asimov in which the Voter was chosen at random. For example, here's a paper from Yale: http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2027&context=fss_papers http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?artic... some random blogs: http://equalitybylot.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/ben-saunders-combining-lotteries-and-voting/ http://equalitybylot.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/ben-saunders-c...