The Athenian Option: Radical Reform for the House of Lords (Sortition and Public Policy)

Two essays, printed back to back in a single volume, offer complementary solutions to the democratic deficit in Britain and the USA. In his book The Party's Over: Blueprint for a Very English Revolution (2004), Keith Sutherland questioned the role of the party in the post-ideological age and concluded that it would be better for government ministers to be appointed by headhunters and held to account by a people's parliament selected by lot. This completely revised and updated edition includes a study of the recent literature on deliberative polling. The American founders proposed that their legislature should be'an exact portrait, in miniature, of the people at large'. Whether or not this was true at the time, the exponential growth of the population, skyrocketing campaign funding, the power of pressure groups, the grease of the pork-barrel and the dominance of charisma and demagoguery means that the US Constitution could now better be described as a kleptocracy. This pioneering essay proposes selecting Congressional members by random lot (leaving the Senate and Presidency unchanged) to'restore a direct, powerful voice in Washington to the whole of America'. Originally published in 1985, this new edition includes an introduction by political scientist Peter Stone. Subtitle: Luck of the Draw: Sortition & Public Policy A People's Parliament: In his book The Party's Over: Blueprint for a Very English Revolution (2004), Keith Sutherland questioned the role of the party in the post-ideological age & concluded that it would be better for government ministers to be appointed by headhunters & held to account by a people's parliament selected by lot. This completely revised & updated edition includes a study of the recent literature on deliberative polling. A Citizen Legislature: The American founders proposed that their legislature should be 'an exact portrait, in miniature, of the people at large'. Whether or not this was true at the time, the exponential growth of the population, skyrocketing campaign funding, the power of pressure groups, the grease of the pork-barrel & the dominance of charisma & demagoguery means that the US Constitution could now better be described as a kleptocracy. This pioneering essay proposes selecting Congressional members by random lot. In this imaginative and provocative book, Barbara Goodwin explores the question of how lottery systems can achieve egalitarian social justice in societies with seemingly ineradicable inequalities.

She begins with the utopian fable of Aleatoria, a country not unlike our own in the not-too-distant-future, where most goods are distributed by lottery—even the right to have children. She then analyzes the philosophical arguments for and against lottery distribution and a comparison of "justice by lottery" with other contemporary theories of justice.

Goodwin also applies her theory to practical problems in the real world which could be—or have been—justly resolved by the use of lotteries, such as military drafts, jury duty, and immigration eligibility. She demonstrates that in many areas, including that of political power, a regular and random reallocation of goods would be a fairer and more democratic method than the distributive systems found in liberal democracies today.

"Before New Labour came to power, when reform of Britain's House of Lords was 'in the air', Anthony Barnett and Peter Carty separately came to the idea that the second chamber could be selected by lot. Together they wrote The Athenian Option which set out a case for creating a large jury, or juries to scrutinise and assess legislation." "Originally published in 1998 by Demos, this new edition includes a withering dissection of the Government's new 2008 White Paper An Elected Second Chamber: further reform of the House of Lords - and compares the authors' proposal that Britain should use 'sortition' for its reformed second chamber to the current plans of both Labour and the Conservatives." "It also includes the authors' evidence before Tony Blair's Royal Commission on Lords reform, and some of the press responses to the first edition, including two sets of letters to The Times."--BOOK JACKET

Before New Labour came to power and when even the prospect of reform of Britain's House of Lords was regarded with scepticism, Anthony Barnett and Peter Carty developed the idea of selecting part of a new upper house by lot: creating a jury or juries, that are representative of the population as a whole while being selected at random, to assess legislation. This new edition of the original proposal includes an account of the reception of the idea, their evidence before the Commission on the Lords established by Tony Blair, and a response to the great advances in citizen-based deliberation that have taken place since the mid-1990s. It concludes with a new appeal to adopt their approach as efforts to reform the Lords continue. Anthony Barnett was the first director of Charter 88 and is the founder of openDemocracy.net; Peter Carty is a journalist and writer.

"Sortition, also known as allotment, is an equal-chance method of selection by some form of lottery such as drawing coloured pebbles from a bag. It is used particularly to allot decision makers. In Ancient Athenian democracy sortition was the primary method for appointing officials, a system that was thought to be one of the principal characteristics of democracy. It is today commonly used to select jurors in Anglo-Saxon based legal systems." "This book includes a study of the use of sortition in ancient Athens and in late medieval and renaissance Italy. It also includes commentary on the contributions to sortition made by Machiavelli, Guicciardini, Harrington and Paine; an account of the history of the randomly-selected jury; and new research into lesser-known examples from England, America and revolutionary France."--Jacket Before New Labour came to power and when even the prospect of reform of Britain's House of Lords was regarded with scepticism, Anthony Barnett and Peter Carty developed the idea of selecting part of a new upper house by lot: creating a jury or juries, that are representative of the population as a whole while being selected at random, to assess legislation. This new edition of the original proposal includes an account of the reception of the idea, their evidence before the Commission on the Lords established by Tony Blair, and a response to the great advances in citizen-based deliberation that have taken place since the mid-1990s. It concludes with a new appeal to adopt their approach as efforts to reform the Lords continue. source: Andrews UK Limited, publisher "This controversial book questions the role of the political party in the post-ideological age and concludes that it would be better for government ministers to be appointed by headhunters and held to account by a 'people's parliament' selected by lot. Unlike its 2004 predecessor, The Party's Over, Sutherland's new book acknowledges an ongoing role for the political party to achieve the 'representation of interests' (Pitkin, 1967)." "However, in order to avoid factionalism - that 'grand cankerworm of a Commonwealth' - parties should be only one element in a mixed constitution, that combines expert advocacy with informed popular decision making."--BOOK JACKET Thomas Gataker was a disputatious Puritan divine. His The Nature and Uses of Lotteries (1627) was the first systematic exposition of a modern view of lotteries, not just as a form of gambling, but as a fair method of division. Gataker approved of these uses, but condemned divination and sorcery using random signs or spells. This important treatise is often referred to, but is generally inaccessible due to its rarity and old-style of language. The text of this edition has been fully modernised, with notes on important sources used by Gataker and includes a new introduction and index. This book is about the virtues and social justice of random distribution. The first chapter is a utopian fragment about a future country, Aleatoria, where everything, including political power, jobs and money, is distributed by lottery. The rest of the book is devoted to considering the idea of the lottery in terms of the conventional components and assumptions of theories of justice, and to reviewing the possible applications of lottery distribution in contemporary society. This revised second edition includes a new introduction. Before New Labour came to power, when reform of Britain's House of Lords was "in the air", Anthony Barnett and Peter Carty separately came to the idea that the second chamber could be selected by lot. Together they wrote The Athenian Option which set out a case for creating a large jury, or juries to scrutinize and assess legislation I, Fortunata Smith (called 'Lucky' by my friends), having drawn a five-year ticket as Public Relations (External) Exec, have been allocated an immense task - no less a task than to prepare the voiceover for the new in-flight videdisk which will be played to visiting foreign dignitaries travelling here on the orbishuttle. A People's Parliament -- A Citizen Legislature. Keith Sutherland. Added Title Page Title: A Citizen Legislature / Ernest Callenbach And Michael Phillips ; With A New Introduction By Peter Stone. Two Works Printed Tête-bêche. Includes Index. Thomas Gataker ; Reviewed, Corrected, And Enlarged, With Additional Answers To Some Further Arguments By The Author ; Modernised With Notes And Bibliography By Conall Boyle. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [203]-223).