Some pro-sortition podcasting
Originally posted on Equality by lot:
https://twitter.com/InfiniteL88ps/status/1475453302653349890 Hi all Just to let you know of a podcast I did with Jim O’Shaugnessey’s program “Infinite loops”. You can download it from…
Citizens allotted for drawing electoral districts in Michigan
Back in January it was reported that Michigan has sent out invitations to voters to apply to serve on the Independent Citizens Redistricting … Citizens allotted for drawing electoral districts … Continue reading
Corona, The Great Unmasking
Off the treadmill. Hamsters off their wheels. We had to stop. The Great Pause in which we would have not in a thousand years “indulged” ourselves, except for Corona’s visit, … Continue reading
Minipublics beyond representation
First posted on Equality by Lot on Oct 8 Now that minipublics are no longer limited to local level “experiments” but are regularly involved in consequential political occasions, constitutional amendments … Continue reading
Does the New US Political Spectrum Signal a Renaissance of Democracy?
Rather than a “crisis” of representative democracy as many journalists and academics have contended since November 2016, the recent opening up of the political spectrum in the United States and … Continue reading
First German National Citizens’ Assembly on DemoPart: the Rise of the “Alloted Citizen”
Originally posted on Equality by lot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYNWW0aLnzE On September 28 in Leipzig, “Phase 2” of the first ever German citizens’ assembly “Bürgerrat Demokratie” concluded its second and last weekend of…
The Making of Homo Probabilis
A review of Ivan Ascher’s Portfolio Society Ascher, Ivan. 2016. Portfolio society: on the capitalist mode of prediction. New York: Zone books. Portfolio society is such a well-written book of … Continue reading
How We Will Come to Appreciate Donald Trump
Sometimes the sense of external oppression acts as a challenge and arouses intellectual energy and excites courage. – John Dewey The United States will experience a significant economic boom over the … Continue reading
The Silver Lining: Twelve Gifts from Trump to Progressives
A shorter version appeared on openDemocracy here. Now that they have had some time to mourn, clamor, or lick their wounds, progressives should begin to see the silver lining from … Continue reading
Islamophobia Lite or Trump’s Academic Enablers
A review of Kelsay’s Islam & War John Kelsay. 1993. Islam and War. Westminster John Knox Press. As we reflect on the increased visibility of racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and anti-semitic … Continue reading
To Awaken Democracy
As Democracy Spring and Democracy Awakening begin a week of sit-ins and civil disobedience on Capitol Hill and as your inbox fills up with spam via the End Citizens United … Continue reading
Creating a Framework for Sortition
Originally posted on Equality by lot:
Dr. Roslyn Fuller is a lecturer in International Law based in Ireland. She is a regular contributor to Irish and international media on world…
Sortition and Legitimate Coercion
Originally posted on Equality by lot:
In an address called “What is Political Science For?” at the 2013 American Political Science Association’s Annual Meeting, APSA President Jane Mansbridge mentioned sortition…
A 5-minute video lesson about sortition
Originally posted on Equality by lot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fivQUlC7-8 Melissa Schwartzberg is a professor of Politics at NYU.
Structure Not Policy: Why We Need More Institutional Political Theory
For too long, I’ve been repeating the self-styled slogan “structure not policy, tomorrow not today” to express the idea that has haunted me since I began studying law. Nearly every … Continue reading
A European Europe?
[Also on SpeakOut 5 Feb, 2015] With the frenzy in Europe and parts of the United States, after the Pegida demonstrations and the Charlie Hebdo attacks, it is worth pausing to … Continue reading
The Journey: Cavafy’s Ithaka
What does this poem mean? The question is rhetorical. Journey, Odyssey: The journey as destination is a cliche that says nothing. The question is rhetorical, because an answer is death. … Continue reading
Why can’t they love our bombs?
In honor of Dr. King, I want to remind us of something he certainly would have. 2015 begins the 25th year of our bombing of Iraq–yes, 25–the 15th of our … Continue reading
Citizens’ Initiative Reviews: Democracy via Vicarious Deliberation?
Although there has been much talk (or rather speculation) in deliberative democracy circles on the potential and possible pitfalls of “intensive” citizen deliberation–especially on Equality by Lot–there has been little … Continue reading
Debugging the System
A review of Manuel Arriaga’s Rebooting Democracy [A] long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT. Thomas Paine, Common Sense Rebooting Democracy … Continue reading
Plus ça change?
Can you guess which American party had this platform and when? The conditions which surround us best justify our cooperation; we meet in the midst of a nation brought to … Continue reading
A Lesson for Michael Moore
[and Noam Chomsky too!] Multimedia is rare on Fila Sophia but the occasion is special. Without looking for conspiracies or evil-doers, without cinema gimmicks, this 45-minute documentary (French with English … Continue reading
The Citizen Jury Illustrated: The Morris Climate Dialogue
A “Citizen Jury” means to embody the informed, face-to-face deliberation of an ideal democracy, not found either in elections or in legislative debates today. Below is a photo illustration of … Continue reading
Family & Polis
A review of Kennan Ferguson’s All in the Family This book follows the “contestation” line of political theory, exemplified by William Connolly, Chantal Mouffe, or Bonnie Honig, that owes much … Continue reading
Fila Sophia 