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Category Archives: FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
What is the statistical probability that sortition will result in an accurate proportional representation?
(thanks to Yoram Gat, statistician) Margin of error is not exactly the right term. ‘Margin of error’ is used when using a proportion in a sample to estimate the proportion in the population. In our case the proportion in the … Continue reading
What are the philosophical antecedants for a sortitionally-chosen legislature?
Antecedents go back at least to the first democrats of Athens who wished, by using the lot, to avoid factional domination. Here are a few others to begin with: “…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are … Continue reading
When and where has proportional representation been instituted?
The definition of ‘proportional representation’ is contested. Variants include Mixed-member, Partly-list, Single transferable vote, Cumulative voting and others. None of these are intended to extend to a random selection of citizens in order to select a representative sample of the … Continue reading
Posted in FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions
Tagged equality, plurality, political parties
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When and where has sortitional selection been used?
Sortitional selection was a central and defining feature of the first Athenian democracy. It was used to select both legislative and administrative functions. There were also a small number of meritocratic elective offices, particularly for the military and the treasury. … Continue reading
What about ‘the lot’ next door?
If you are concerned about your neighbor’s lot (yard, home, acreage … not, that is, his or her well-being) see http://www.seeclickfix.com/
Posted in FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions
Tagged citizen action, open source activism
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What might be intermediate steps towards realizing a Citizen Legislature?
Advisory bodies of randomly chosen citizens already are becoming commonplace. The more these examples demonstrate the wisdom of ‘the people’, the sooner such bodies can graduate from advisers to policy makers. See, among others, The Center for Deliberative Democracy, The … Continue reading
What might be some long-term effects of a Citizen Legislature?
Over time more and more individuals in more and more segments of the population will have had the experience of attending to legislative business.The likely effect of those many and evenly disbursed experiences would be a greater capacity for localities … Continue reading
How can visionary leadership find a place in a Citizen Legislature?
Like every other measure, visionary leadership would be as prevalent in a proportionally representative legislature as it is in the general population. Some may criticize this fact by saying that this is exactly why we force candidates to engage in … Continue reading
Posted in FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions
Tagged campaign, competition, electoral combat, leadership, vision
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How does the median U.S. household net worth compare to that of Congress?
The median net worth of Senators is $1.06 million. Representatives about $366,000. The median net worth of U.S. households about $120,000. N.B. ‘Median’ means ‘in the middle’.It is different than ‘average’. The average is the total divided by the number … Continue reading
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Tagged median net worth, networth comparison
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The base annual salary for Senators and Representatives in 2010 is $174,000. In addition there are retirement and health benefits, expense allowances, franking privilege, personal staff allowance and other perquisites. The 2010 median household income in the United States is … Continue reading
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