How should we live together? Humans have been asking themselves this question ever since we’ve lived in organized societies. We have tried various approaches: monarchies, totalitarian dictatorships and democracies. But democracies, which in the last century spread around the world, have repeatedly failed to achieve their goal: government of, by and for the people. Powerful vested interests, and corruption by elected representatives have brought cynicism about democracy to an all-time high.
Can we do democracy differently? Brett Hennig—founder of the Sortition Foundation and author of The End of Politicians: Time for a Real Democracy—not only thinks so, but is helping demonstrate how sortition—random selection of representatives—can improve how we choose our decision-makers, and do democracy differently.
Take ten minutes and watch this video, the first of his two Tedx Talks. Brett is witty and profound. You’ll enjoy what he has to say. I promise.
