[EM] sortition/random legislature Was: Re: language/framing quibble

[Fred Gohlke]

Good Morning, Aaron Armitage

re: "I don't think I expressed my point clearly enough: I
      consider that making the public the active agents in their
      own governance is a very major benefit of popular
      government. THE benefit, in fact."

I think you made your point with great clarity.  Those accustomed to 
instant gratification may miss the subtle effect of active participation 
on the participants, but that does not make it any less real.  In The 
Political Philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre in The Internet Encyclopedia 
of Philosophy, Dr. Edward Clayton wrote:

   "The benefits of a practice would then flow to those who
    participated in politics -- in fact, certain important
    benefits could only be achieved by political participation
    -- and politics would make people more virtuous rather than
    less virtuous as it now does."

(A 'practice', as used above, is learning, using and appreciating the 
unique combination of skills and abilities that an endeavor calls upon.)

Politics is about the way people interact.  It is the means by which we 
derive the rules of society.  The significance of the public learning to 
'practice politics' is profound.  It can not be accomplished by anything 
as sterile as selecting people by lot.

Fred