Hannah Arendt Center, Center for Civic Engagement, and Bard Debate Union Present
Public Debate: Should federal officeholders in the US should be determined by lottery instead of election?
Thursday, October 15, 2020
Online Event
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Please join the Bard Debate Union, the Hannah Arendt Center, and the Center for Civic Engagement for a PUBLIC DEBATE on the question:7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Should federal officeholders in the United States be determined through sortition instead of election?
Join via Zoom: https://bard.zoom.us/j/99620625005?pwd=VHpMYUJFM0FqVnBNbTcrbE5xYU9xZz09
Hannah Arendt writes: “Representative government is in crisis today, partly because it has lost, in the course of time, all institutions that permitted the citizens’ actual participation, and partly because it is now gravely affected by the disease from which the party system suffers: bureaucratization and the two parties’ tendency to represent nobody except the party machines.”
The crisis facing democratic regimes today is cause for serious concern; it is also an opportunity for deep reflection on questions and assumptions concerning liberal representative democracy. How can we revitalize our democracy today? How can we make our representative democracies more participatory? Might “sortition”—a system whereby governmental representatives are chosen by lottery instead of by election—provide an answer?
For more information, call 845-758-6822 x4512, e-mail [email protected],
or visit https://debate.bard.edu.
Time: 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Location: Online Event