Good Morning, Terry Bouricius
re: "... I have long advocated a greater use of sortition (the selection
by lot) to select legislators ..."
It seems to me the problem with picking people by lot is that it
provides no means of examining them. I understand that it produces a
random sample of the electorate, but why would it not be better to
devise a means of examining candidates so we may select the best among them?
re: "I can assure you all that legislators are not more qualified, nor
wiser, as Burke hoped, but rather simply less-representative and more
egotistical, than average people."
That's true and it is screaming evidence that our candidate selection
method is flawed. We can, indeed, do better by picking people by lot,
but that's only because the present system elevates unscrupulous people
by design. We have, among us, many people of intellect and integrity.
What we lack is a means of finding them and raising them to positions of
leadership.
We should make a conscious effort to select the best among us rather
than settle for throwing darts against a wall.
Fred
----
Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
