Ideas worth spreading

What if we replaced politicians with randomly selected people?

1,788,810 views |

Brett Hennig |

TEDxDanubia

• May 2017

If you think democracy is broken, here's an idea: let's replace politicians with randomly selected people. Author and activist Brett Hennig presents a compelling case for sortition democracy, or random selection of government officials -- a system with roots in ancient Athens that taps into the wisdom of the crowd and entrusts ordinary people with making balanced decisions for the greater good of everyone. Sound crazy? Learn more about how it could work to create a world free of partisan politics.

If you think democracy is broken, here's an idea: let's replace politicians with randomly selected people. Author and activist Brett Hennig presents a compelling case for sortition democracy, or random selection of government officials -- a system with roots in ancient Athens that taps into the wisdom of the crowd and entrusts ordinary people with making balanced decisions for the greater good of everyone. Sound crazy? Learn more about how it could work to create a world free of partisan politics.

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxDanubia, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

Sign up to our email list and keep informed about how the campaign for sortition is progressing worldwide.

Support the campaign to institute sortition in government. Become a member of the Sortition Foundation. Yes, we are a nonprofit, member-run organization.

About the speaker

Brett Hennig

Author, activist

See speaker profile

Brett Hennig co-founded and directs the Sortition Foundation, which campaigns to institute the use of stratified, random selection (also called sortition) in government.

Brett Hennig | Unbound Digital, 2017 | Book

The End of Politicians: Time for a Real Democracy

Provocative. Succinct. Inspiring. Combining insights from the history of democracy with a critical understanding of the information revolution, this book explains how we can fix democracy by eliminating politicians and replacing them with a representative network of everyday citizens.

David Van Reybrouck | Random House, 2016 | Book

Against Elections: The Case for Democracy

Van Reybrouck argues that to inoculate against "democratic fatigue syndrome," we need a healthy dose of sortition in our politics. This compelling and convincing book is a must-read for everyone who wants to transform democracy and make it responsive to the informed will of the people.

Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels | Princeton University Press, 2017 | Book

Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Governments

Do you still believe in the "folk theory of democracy" — that our politicians listen and respond to the public, and that people vote after a careful consideration of policy options and outcomes? This book explodes this popular myth, and explains in an understandable and accessible way the real story about what elections mean and do.

bretthennig.com | Watch

"The 10 best short videos about sortition"

Want to watch more? Check out this list of the 10 best short videos about sortition, including "Lottery vs Election: What did democracy really mean in Athens?" and "When Citizens Assemble" on the recent Irish Citizens’ Assembly — plus many more to keep you engaged and thinking.

sortitionfoundation.org | Explore

"Where is sortition being used around the world today?"

This map, created and maintained by the Sortition Foundation, gives you a graphical view of all the sortition experiments, citizens' assemblies and policy juries happening all around the world.

Learn more

About TEDx

TEDx was created in the spirit of TED's mission, "ideas worth spreading." It supports independent organizers who want to create a TED-like event in their own community.

Find a TEDx event near you

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxDanubia, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

Sign up to our email list and keep informed about how the campaign for sortition is progressing worldwide.

Support the campaign to institute sortition in government. Become a member of the Sortition Foundation. Yes, we are a nonprofit, member-run organization.