Stirring up Politics : Transforming Democracy Through Rotation

The book explores the potential of citizen lotteries as an alternative to elections by highlighting their effectiveness and roots in ancient Athenian democracy. It argues that deliberative innovations can help renew modern democracy and enable fairer political representation.

Can lotteries replace voting-based elections? Although the idea may seem radical, Stirring Up Politics: Transforming Democracy Through Rotation argues that objections to random selection in politics are often unfounded. Drawing on a wide range of empirical examples of deliberative mini-publics —forums of randomly selected citizens that are spreading globally— the book demonstrates that ordinary people, chosen by lot, can make sound and effective decisions. This method, far from new, was central to the democratic practices of ancient Greece. Yet today, it remains largely overlooked, or only studied with regard to jury duty. Stirring Up Politics explores the potential of sortition (random selection) to address modern democracy’s deepening crises, political corruption, inequality, and declining trust. Through critical analysis and reference to key political theorists, it challenges the dominance of electoral logic and shows that alternative models of representation are not only possible but often more just and effective. It makes a strong case for rethinking how we choose political representatives and how we might revitalize democracy by drawing on forgotten practices.