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On Sortition. Comment on “Proposals for a Democracy of the Future” by Bruno Frey

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  • George Tridimas

    (Ulster Business School)

Abstract

Among the several thought provoking arguments for reforming democracy, Bruno Frey advocates sortition, that is, appointment to (some) public offices by lottery. Sortition was the hallmark of the direct democracy of ancient Athens. The paper assesses the Athenian practice of sortition by the criteria of representativeness, equity, partisanship, rent seeking, resource economy, and suitability of candidates for office. It concludes that, in view of fundamental conceptual differences between the Athenian democracy and the modern representative government, introduction of sortition into modern representative democracy poses extremely demanding challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • George Tridimas, 2018. "On Sortition. Comment on “Proposals for a Democracy of the Future” by Bruno Frey," Homo Oeconomicus: Journal of Behavioral and Institutional Economics, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 91-100, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:homoec:v:35:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s41412-017-0054-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s41412-017-0054-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. George Tridimas, 2012. "Constitutional choice in ancient Athens: the rationality of selection to office by lot," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Roger D. Congleton & Arye L. Hillman (ed.), 2015. "Companion to the Political Economy of Rent Seeking," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15325.
    3. Shruti Rajagopalan & Richard Wagner, 2013. "Constitutional craftsmanship and the rule of law," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 295-309, December.
    4. Dennis Mueller & Robert Tollison & Thomas Willett, 1972. "Representative democracy via random selection," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 57-68, March.
    5. repec:elg:eechap:15325_25 is not listed on IDEAS
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sortition; Ancient Athens; Direct democracy; Representative democracy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • N4 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation

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