Politicians should take citizens’ assemblies seriously
Panels of ordinary people can solve problems that the professionals fear to tackle
IN 403BC Athens decided to overhaul its institutions. A disastrous war with Sparta had shown that direct democracy, whereby adult male citizens voted on laws, was not enough to stop eloquent demagogues from getting what they wanted, and indeed from subverting democracy altogether. So a new body, chosen by lot, was set up to scrutinise the decisions of voters. It was called the nomothetai or “layers down of law” and it would be given the time to ponder difficult decisions, unmolested by silver-tongued orators and the schemes of ambitious politicians.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Amateurs to the rescue”
From the September 19th 2020 edition
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