Hélène Landemore is a political scientist at Yale who studies democracy. She has a radical idea for fixing politics: what if we replaced career politicians with citizen assemblies, filled with people chosen by lottery? In this episode, Hélène and Adam discuss the history of this idea, tracing back to Ancient Greece and the birth of democracy, as well as recent examples of countries and states that have tried this bold method of governance. Hélène responds to some common questions and concerns about citizen assemblies, and Adam breaks down some evidence supporting the notion that ordinary citizens may be more fit to serve and lead than professional politicians.
Host & Guest
Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: https://adamgrant.net/)
Hélène Landemore (Website: https://www.helenelandemore.com/)
Links
Politics Without Politicians: The Case for Citizen Rule - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0593713982
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Randomly selected leaders may show less hubris and more service
HLHélène Landemore
When groups randomly elect a leader as opposed to choosing a leader, um, the leader shows less hubris. It's less likely to go to their head. They're less likely to think, "Well, I'm the chosen one. I, I know what's best for everyone," and more likely to take on a servant leadership kind of role. And I, I think the, the biggest danger we have right now in politics is not ignorance, it's selfishness. And knowing that you are randomly assigned to make laws and to set policy, I think is a tremendous
0:30 – 0:51
The biggest political danger: selfishness, not ignorance
HLHélène Landemore
protective mechanism against selfishness. I don't think it would be a good idea, for example, to randomly select a president in the United States. W- giving one person randomly that much power seems like a risky endeavor. But for a group like Congress, as big as it is, I've become increasingly open to the possibility that this would be better than our alternative. Our jury system works this way.
0:51 – 0:52
Where sortition fits—and where it doesn’t: Congress vs. the presidency
SPSpeaker
Yes, absolutely. Yep.
0:52 – 1:06
The jury analogy: if citizens can judge guilt, why not make policy?
HLHélène Landemore
And so if we are willing to let randomly selected jurors do the work of judges and determine the innocence or guilt of a, of a person, why would we not extend that to saying random citizens can do the work of politicians?
Episode duration: 1:07
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