1 00:00:00,050 --> 00:00:08,220 Hey, congratulations! 2 00:00:08,820 --> 00:00:10,039 You've just won the lottery. 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:13,640 Only the prize isn't cash or a luxury cruise. 4 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,120 It's a position in your country's national legislature. 5 00:00:18,039 --> 00:00:19,559 And you aren't the only lucky winner. 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,379 All of your fellow lawmakers were chosen in the same way. 7 00:00:24,339 --> 00:00:27,179 This might strike you as a strange way to run a government, 8 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:28,739 let alone a democracy. 9 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:31,800 Elections are the epitome of democracy, right? 10 00:00:32,780 --> 00:00:36,719 Well, the ancient Athenians who coined the word had another view. 11 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:41,640 In fact, elections only played a small role in Athenian democracy, 12 00:00:42,079 --> 00:00:47,280 with most offices filled by random lottery from a pool of citizen volunteers. 13 00:00:48,979 --> 00:00:52,079 Unlike the representative democracies common today, 14 00:00:52,079 --> 00:00:56,579 where voters elect leaders to make laws and decisions on their behalf, 15 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,500 5th century B.C. Athens was a direct democracy 16 00:01:00,500 --> 00:01:02,500 that encouraged wide participation 17 00:01:02,500 --> 00:01:05,420 through the principle of ha bulaminos, 18 00:01:05,780 --> 00:01:07,019 or anyone who wishes. 19 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:09,579 This meant that any of its approximately 20 00:01:09,579 --> 00:01:11,819 30,000 eligible citizens 21 00:01:11,819 --> 00:01:13,459 could attend the ecclesia, 22 00:01:14,099 --> 00:01:15,719 a general assembly meeting, 23 00:01:16,060 --> 00:01:17,159 several times a month. 24 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,540 In principle, any of the 6,000 or so 25 00:01:20,540 --> 00:01:22,239 who showed up at each session 26 00:01:22,239 --> 00:01:24,620 had the right to address their fellow citizens, 27 00:01:25,019 --> 00:01:27,599 propose a law, or bring a public lawsuit. 28 00:01:28,500 --> 00:01:30,879 Of course, a crowd of 6,000 people 29 00:01:30,879 --> 00:01:32,599 trying to speak at the same time 30 00:01:32,599 --> 00:01:34,780 would not have made for effective government. 31 00:01:35,359 --> 00:01:37,500 So the Athenian system also relied 32 00:01:37,500 --> 00:01:40,879 on a 500-member governing council called the bule 33 00:01:40,879 --> 00:01:43,859 to set the agenda and evaluate proposals, 34 00:01:44,459 --> 00:01:47,239 in addition to hundreds of jurors and magistrates 35 00:01:47,239 --> 00:01:48,719 to handle legal matters. 36 00:01:49,859 --> 00:01:51,659 Rather than being elected or appointed, 37 00:01:52,079 --> 00:01:55,200 the people in these positions were chosen by lot. 38 00:01:57,439 --> 00:02:01,579 This process of randomized selection is known as sortition. 39 00:02:03,790 --> 00:02:06,049 The only positions filled by elections 40 00:02:06,049 --> 00:02:10,250 were those recognized as requiring expertise, such as generals. 41 00:02:11,530 --> 00:02:15,250 But these were considered aristocratic, meaning rule by the best, 42 00:02:15,930 --> 00:02:18,710 as opposed to democracies, rule by the many. 43 00:02:19,990 --> 00:02:21,949 How did this system come to be? 44 00:02:21,949 --> 00:02:31,150 Well, democracy arose in Athens after long periods of social and political tension marked by conflict 45 00:02:31,150 --> 00:02:37,789 among nobles. Powers once restricted to elites, such as speaking in the assembly and having their 46 00:02:37,789 --> 00:02:43,689 votes counted, were expanded to ordinary citizens. And the ability of ordinary citizens to perform 47 00:02:43,689 --> 00:02:50,189 these tasks adequately became a central feature of the democratic ideology of Athens. Rather than a 48 00:02:50,189 --> 00:02:53,830 civic participation was the duty of all citizens, 49 00:02:53,830 --> 00:02:56,189 with sortition and strict term limits 50 00:02:56,189 --> 00:03:00,930 preventing governing classes or political parties from forming. 51 00:03:00,930 --> 00:03:02,969 By 21st century standards, 52 00:03:02,969 --> 00:03:07,509 Athenian rule by the many excluded an awful lot of people. 53 00:03:07,509 --> 00:03:11,650 Women, slaves, and foreigners were denied full citizenship. 54 00:03:11,650 --> 00:03:14,509 And when we filter out those too young to serve, 55 00:03:14,509 --> 00:03:16,750 the pool of eligible Athenians 56 00:03:16,750 --> 00:03:21,750 drops to only 10 to 20% of the overall population. 57 00:03:21,750 --> 00:03:24,750 Some ancient philosophers, including Plato, 58 00:03:24,750 --> 00:03:26,750 disparaged this form of democracy 59 00:03:26,750 --> 00:03:29,750 as being anarchic and run by fools, 60 00:03:29,750 --> 00:03:32,750 but today the word has such positive associations 61 00:03:32,750 --> 00:03:36,750 that vastly different regimes claim to embody it. 62 00:03:36,750 --> 00:03:37,750 At the same time, 63 00:03:37,750 --> 00:03:41,750 some share Plato's skepticism about the wisdom of crowds. 64 00:03:41,750 --> 00:03:44,750 Many modern democracies reconcile this conflict 65 00:03:44,750 --> 00:03:46,590 conflict by having citizens 66 00:03:46,590 --> 00:03:48,729 elect those they consider qualified 67 00:03:48,729 --> 00:03:50,710 to legislate on their behalf. 68 00:03:51,710 --> 00:03:52,889 But this poses its own 69 00:03:52,889 --> 00:03:54,689 problems, including the influence 70 00:03:54,689 --> 00:03:56,750 of wealth and the emergence of 71 00:03:56,750 --> 00:03:58,669 professional politicians with 72 00:03:58,669 --> 00:04:00,550 different interests than their constituents. 73 00:04:02,250 --> 00:04:03,050 Could reviving 74 00:04:03,050 --> 00:04:04,750 election by lottery lead to 75 00:04:04,750 --> 00:04:06,650 more effective government through a more 76 00:04:06,650 --> 00:04:08,849 diverse and representative group of legislators? 77 00:04:09,229 --> 00:04:10,689 Or does modern political 78 00:04:10,689 --> 00:04:12,669 office, like Athenian military 79 00:04:12,669 --> 00:04:15,669 requires specialized knowledge and skills. 80 00:04:15,669 --> 00:04:17,670 You probably shouldn't hold your breath 81 00:04:17,670 --> 00:04:20,670 to win a spot in your country's government. 82 00:04:20,670 --> 00:04:22,670 But depending on where you live, 83 00:04:22,670 --> 00:04:25,670 you may still be selected to participate in a jury, 84 00:04:25,670 --> 00:04:28,670 a citizen's assembly, or a deliberative poll, 85 00:04:28,670 --> 00:04:31,670 all examples of how the democratic principle 86 00:04:31,670 --> 00:04:35,410 behind sortition still survives today.