Democracy Through Sortition

Berlin- Join us and our partner @tie_demokra in a conversation about the future of democracy! April 11th at @Bard_Berlin with inputs by: Jonas Kunz & Hans Kern (B.I.R.D.S.), Dr. Andreas Schiel & Tom Wohlfarth (denkzentrum|demokratie) facebook.com/events/4215156… Hope to see you there!

We’re back with another one of our #MASSideas today! Barn-raising was a popular community activity in 19th century rural North America. Barn-raising is also a metaphor @masslbp uses to describe the capability of citizens to solve problems. #MASSideas

join the conversation on our new article, which suggests sortition as an effective means of addressing climate issues- equalitybylot.com/2019/03/09/a-f…

Heute Abend um 21:30 bei @dlfnova spricht @k_liesenberg von @mehralswaehlen über die Erfahrungen vom Frankfurter #Demokratiekonvent 2019 & die Chancen für Bürger*innendialog in 🇩🇪 - einschalten lohnt also enorm!

Now even in The Economist! 'Britain may be lagging, but elsewhere deliberative democracy is becoming more commonplace. Just last month in Belgium, the regional government in Ostbelgien voted unanimously to form a permanent citizens’ council.' economist.com/open-future/20…

we agree!

We’ve collected nine of our favourite @masslbp ideas for improving #democracy. Our first? #CivicLotteries, of course. Read about how they work, explore all nine ideas and download the #massideas poster masslbp.com/mass-ideas

we are super excited about the first volume of our newsletter, BirdsEyeView, which we sent out this past weekend. send us a message if you would like to be on our mailing list!

Fabulous! "German-speaking Community of Belgium becomes world’s first region with permanent citizen drafted by lot" artihttps://www.foundationfuturegenerations.org/sites/www.foundationfuturegenerations.org/files/documents/news/20190226_dgpermanentcitizensassembly_pressrelease.pdf

I'm having so much fun teaching Kant's 3rd Critique! We've made it through 13 pages in 2.5 weeks, and at the end of our 1hr and 20min class today a student said: I feel like we've only been here for 5 minutes. Best possible teaching experience.

A Citizens Assembly on Brexit remains a realistic and constructive healing option and many wide-ranging opinion formers are now backing it. Join them: change.org/p/uk-parliamen… #sortition

Following a flurry of proposals for convening a Citizens Assembly to resolve the Brexit gridlock, a more nuanced exposition of possible scenarios is offered by Alan Renwick (@alanjrenwick), UCL professor and Director of the Constitution Unit @ConUnit_UCL bit.ly/2BhyW99

Fantastic! Madrid has become the first city in modern Europe to install a permanent citizens' assembly drafted by lot. This is a major step!

Just in case you were wondering: #Sortition "The aim is to secure a group of people who are broadly representative of the electorate across characteristics such as their gender, ethnicity, social class and the area where they live." electoral-reform.org.uk/what-is-a-citi…

A group of prominent figures wrote a letter to the Guardian suggesting the use of a citizen's assembly to break the deadlock on Brexit. As the situation remains politically urgent, some are revisiting the idea. Link to original article attached: theguardian.com/politics/2018/…

On our reading list this morning: “Democracy When The People are Thinking”, James Fishkin’s 2018 work on the future of deliberative democracy. In modern democracy, he asks, “where is the entry point for any meaningful version of public will?” It is published by Oxford Uni Press.