Rather than elections, random selection or lot-drawing of the sort used to form juries was the main mechanism for picking civic leaders in ancient Athens, the Republic of Venice and elsewhere in history. Although seldom used today, various lot-drawing schemes (a.k.a. “sortition”) could potentially solve the problems that concern advocates of term limits and campaign finance reform.

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Other Independent Review articles by Sigmund Knag
Winter 1996/97 The Almighty, Impotent State; or, the Crisis of Authority
Fall 1996 The War Against Authority: From the Crisis of Legitimacy to a New Social Contract