The central feature of every true lottery is that all rational evaluation is deliberately excluded. Once this principle is grasped, the author argues, we can begin to understand exactly what benefits sortition can bring to the political community. The book includes a study of the use of sortition in ancient Athens and in late medieval and renaissance Italy. It also includes commentary on the contributions to sortition made by Machiavelli, Guicciardini, Harrington and Paine; an account of the history of the randomly-selected jury; and new research into lesser-known examples from England, America and revolutionary France.

This volume reflects the up-and-coming academic interest in sortition. It is based on contributions to the first international conference dedicated to the subject held at the University of Political Science (Sciences-Po) in Paris in November 2008. The papers explore important theoretical questions such as how we should recognise and define differing lottery forms; the relationship between sortition and different aspects and forms of democracy; and its potential benefits to current political and commercial practice. Contributors Hubertus Buchstein, Gil Delannoi Oliver Dowlen, Gerhard Göhler Barbara Goodwin, Michael Hein Yves Sintomer, Peter Stone Antoine Vergne Gil Delannoi is Research Director at Sciences-Po Paris (Centre de recherches politiques). Oliver Dowlen is an independent scholar and a founder member of the Society for Democracy including Random Selection (SDRS).

The central feature of every true lottery is that all rational evaluation is deliberately excluded. Once this principle is grasped, the author argues, we can begin to understand exactly what benefits sortition can bring to the political community. The book includes a study of the use of sortition in ancient Athens and in late medieval and renaissance Italy. It also includes commentary on the contributions to sortition made by Machiavelli, Guicciardini, Harrington and Paine; an account of the history of the randomly-selected jury; and new research into lesser-known examples from England, America and revolutionary France.

This volume reflects the up-and-coming academic interest in sortition. It is based on contributions to the first international conference dedicated to the subject held at the University of Political Science (Sciences-Po) in Paris in November 2008. The papers explore important theoretical questions such as how we should recognise and define differing lottery forms; the relationship between sortition and different aspects and forms of democracy; and its potential benefits to current political and commercial practice. Contributors Hubertus Buchstein, Gil Delannoi Oliver Dowlen, Gerhard Göhler Barbara Goodwin, Michael Hein Yves Sintomer, Peter Stone Antoine Vergne Gil Delannoi is Research Director at Sciences-Po Paris (Centre de recherches politiques). Oliver Dowlen is an independent scholar and a founder member of the Society for Democracy including Random Selection (SDRS).