Random Selection in Politics

Lyn Carson, Brian Martin

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 1999
• ISBN:
  9780313028694
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Ideologies
• Index: Politics & International Relations

How might the entire citizenry of a country make the decisions that affect them? Carson and Martin provide the first accessible and comprehensive overview of random selection as a possible process for transforming our modern political systems. Building on the theoretical work of the likes of John Burnheim and Fred Emery and drawing on their own work with social action groups, they outline a set of methods that go beyond the mere tapping of community opinion to reveal not only preferences but a more active role in creating the community. Random selection, as Carson and Martin show, has been used in community participation in short-term decision making and long-term planning. It can be a powerful tool in the development of local, federal, and international policy. An important and innovative look at government decision making, this will be of primary interest to scholars and researchers in political theory and electoral systems, as well as political activists and reformers.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Random Selection in Decision Making
• 3. Direct Democracy
• 4. Citizen Participation without Random Selection
• 5. Citizen Participation with Random Selection: The Early Days
• 6. Citizen Participation with Random Selection: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
• 7. Sortition Futures
• 8. Strategies
• Appendix: Examples of Citizen Participation
• Bibliography
• Index