Sortition, direct democracy and indirect democracy

Abstract

This chapter explores some of the complexity of sortition as a distinct political form by looking at its history, the qualities and effects of the lottery, the design of schemes involving sortition and its relation to modern forms of democracy and democratic values. Direct democracy embodies the integration of the whole body politic, whereas selection by lot conveys the idea of integration more than it embodies it. The numerous Athenian citizens selected by sortition seldom performed tasks as important as the work of a legislature or of an administration in an indirect democracy. In Athens, direct democracy prevailed over sortition as well as over any kind of indirect democracy, since the complete body politic meeting in the popular assembly was ultimately responsible for passing laws. In indirect democracy, equality means an equal right to be represented. Indirect democracy usually calls for a type of representation that is far more active than descriptive.