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

George Tridimas ()
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George Tridimas: Ulster Business School

Homo Oeconomicus: Journal of Behavioral and Institutional Economics, 2018, vol. 35, issue 1, No 5, 100 pages

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: Sortition; Ancient Athens; Direct democracy; Representative democracy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D7 N4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1007/s41412-017-0054-3

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