Presenter: Rev. Matt Alspaugh
Service Associate: Lynn Cleek

It appears that the idea of representative democracy is in trouble, as voters in numerous countries have chosen to elect authoritarian leaders who are shifting those countries away from democracy. So maybe it’s time to take a long view about how democracy might be fixed, and one idea is to move away from representative democracy, or at least diminish the power of representatives. We’ll explore one idea, ‘sortition’ where representatives are randomly chosen, much like juries are in much of the world. Could random choice even work? Could it yield outcomes better than what we’re seeing with elected representatives? How might this jibe with our 5th principle, “The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large?” We’ll reflect on this idea, and democracy in general.

Topics: Civic Life