Sortition (selection by lots) and democracy: is it possible to have complementarity with representation?

Abstract

This article analyzes the reasons that have potentially been given to disqualify sortition as complementary to elections in our ‘representative democracies’. It explores the analytical relevance of separating the consequences of sortition in small societies from the procedural motivations a society may have for resorting to sortition. It enquires whether the democrats who inhabit current democracies have reasonable reasons to reject sortition because in large and complex societies it does not fulfill the rotation clause.