What is the first major obstacle to realizing sortitionally-chosen proportional representation?

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Common Lot Sortitionist

Remembering what Mohandas Gandhi said: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
Those who have most to lose from an equitable and legitimate decision-making process will not want to consider fundamental change. At present they are ‘ignoring’ because few citizens are yet aware of any options.

The first major obstacle, then, is to raise awareness about what “the next step for democracy” might be.

Currently Common Lot Productions is seeking collaborators and financial underwriters for:

  1. A Road Trip for Democracy — a nationwide tour presenting, succinctly and creatively, a half-dozen options of wide political spectrum to systemically create a ‘government by the people’;
  2. A feature-length documentary or docu-drama or television series;
  3. Fictional or conceptual productions: film, stage, installation or site-specific performance.

All three of these avenues are being pursued.

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Why .com and not .org?

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Common Lot Sortitionist

I have worked or volunteered most of my life in the non-profit or non-governmental sector — from public television to Peace Corps to soup kitchen to National Forest to community organizing to unarmed protection of civilians. I’ve never been a private business owner. So I have set up Common Lot Productions as a sole proprietorship, hoping to provide income for myself and others without constraints and with full personal responsibility.

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Common Lot Productions creates print and video materials which educate about, and advocate for, the next step for democracy. Policy-making bodies, from local to national, should be composed of willing and able citizens proportional to the population they serve. The use of sortition, random selection, is the only way to insure this.

In order for Common Lot Productions to continue, we must generate an income. Please purchase or donate.

Many respond “Great idea, but it’ll never happen”. Please help prove them wrong.
Click here to see our list of products and services.

N.B. We seek to support ourselves and others through this enterprise. We are not a ‘non-profit’; there are no tax deductions.

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Common Lot Sortitionist | Leave a comment

What can you do to realize this next step for democracy?

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Common Lot Sortitionist

Attention to the sortitional selection of decision-making bodies is increasing through publications and online forums. You can join our efforts in this in several ways:

  • Supporting Common Lot Productions. We sell DVDs and are available for presentations. We do not want to be a non-profit venture because we believe that the marketplace of ideas can provide. We are looking for financial advisors who can guide us to profitability.
  • Engaging with us on media productions. We have a full-length, big budget, high concept comic screenplay about “the common lot”. We do not have the capacity to take this forward. We welcome collaborators.
  • Suggesting other promotional manifestations of sortition. The idea is highly malleable. We can imagine live performances, other media productions and gallery installations in a wide variety of venues, exploring the concept of randomness. Again, we welcome collaborators and opportunities to explore these options.
  • Encouraging viral expansion through social networking. Become a member of our Facebook page “Common Lot Productions” and ‘like’ us to all your ‘friends’.
  • Experimenting with random selection in your lives, individually and corporately. Remember, though, that if your goal is proportional representation, statistical theory — the Law of Large Numbers — states that the greater the number in the selection pool, the closer proportional representation will be assured. And vice versa.
  • Joining our Common Lot Productions ‘think tank’ by sending your ideas about how to make this a financially self-supporting endeavor as well as one that contributes to the larger movement of realizing The Next Step for Democracy. E-mail: info@TheCommonLot.com.

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What are the downsides of electoral balloting?

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Common Lot Sortitionist

First of all, of course the ballot is preferred to the bullet.

The ballot however requires a certain type of person to put him- or herself up for candidacy. Such a person is necessarily of a particular psychological profile. That profile is only a small sub-section of the populace. Balloting — in and of itself — prevents realization of government ‘by’ the people.

Furthermore there are the obvious drawbacks: financial wherewithal, rhetorical adroitness, media visage.

Finally, the campaign is a contest. Many are attracted to the blood sport of it. That contest unfortunately drives the candidates to desperate measures — not only the attack ads that poison civil discourse, but also the unavoidable compulsion to make promises and to take positions whose purpose is merely to win the election.

These reasons lead us to believe that sortitional selection of policy-making bodies will be the equitable, inclusive and wise ‘next step for democracy’.

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Hello world!

Posted on June 26, 2010 by Common Lot Sortitionist

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

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The Common Lot: Part 1

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Common Lot Sortitionist

Watch “The Common Lot: Part 1”– a 30-minute video using docu-drama, expert testimony and random interviews to investigate the pros and cons of using sortition to choose the legislative branch.

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Interview with Professor Donald Kraybill

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Common Lot Sortitionist

View this short (4’40”) interview with Professor Donald Kraybill on how and why the Amish have used sortition for several hundred years.

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The Common Lot: Next Step for Democracy

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Common Lot Sortitionist

The Common Lot: Next Step for Democracy, the most recent film by Common Lot Productions, is a video essay that interrogates the concept of democracy of, by, and for the people. It asks the seminal question for political reform in America (and in democracies around the globe): can elective democracy actually represent the rich diversity of the citizenry? This question should be of interest to everyone interested in our political system, especially:

  • Political Science faculty and students;
  • Political organizations;
  • People and organizations interested in civics and civil society;
  • Anyone who believes that government of, by, and for the people should exist.


To purchase the DVD, contact us.

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Should sortitional selection be used for the executive and judicial branches also?

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Common Lot Sortitionist

No, definitely not.

The executive and judicial branches must be chosen meritocratically, based on skills.

The executive is charged to carry out the will expressed by the legislature and therefore requires management expertise.
Similarly, judicial appointments require extensive training in the law and jurisprudence.

The primary purpose of sortitional selection of the legislative branch is to insure that the decision-making body can be as close to proportionally representative of the entire population as possible. It is intended to insure that the government is ‘by’ the people as well as ‘for’ and ‘of’ them.

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