Are free and open elections at odds with the democratic process? In the face of gerrymandering, voter suppression, campaign finance abuse, election tampering, and a disillusioned electorate, is now the time to reinvigorate our electoral system, or get rid of it? What are the alternatives? Join us for a talk with Alexander Guerrero and Belgian writer DAVID VAN REYBROUCK, who suggest we abandon the traditional methods and use lotteries to select our officials. Roger Berkowitz, co-curator and director of the Hannah Arendt Center, will moderate this discussion as we explore how Sortition and Lottocracy may actually work.
DAVID VAN REYBROUCK is considered "one of the leading intellectuals in Europe" (Der Tagesspiegel) and is a pioneering advocate of participatory democracy. He founded the G1000 Citizens' Summit, and his work has led to trials in participatory democracy throughout Belgium and Holland. He is also one of the most highly regarded literary and political writers of his generation, whose most recent book, Congo: The Epic History of a People, won 19 prizes, sold 500,000 copies and has been translated into a dozen languages. It was described as a "masterpiece" by the Independent and "magnificent" by The New York Times.
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