In 1978 I wrote an article proposing that legislative bodies be created by random selection like juries. My friend ‘Chick’ Callenbach then offered to write a book with me on the subject. It was called A Citizen Legislature. Published in 1981, it became part of every political science course on the planet. The original model was a Greek legislature called the Boule. Then in the late 1980s it almost became a reality when the proposal nearly became law in British Columbia, losing by only one vote.
Now America is nearly at the point of a civil war, I can see that a random legislature will become a viable choice in the discussions in the near future to resolve our close call with the precipice of democratic failure.
Would a random legislature resolve our current problem?
That is a separate question. My prediction that the random legislature will become a subject of discussion is an answer to a different question. ‘Would it resolve the divergence of the American Republic?’ is not the same question.
The answer depends on my analysis of the current problem. If my analysis is correct it would resolve our current nightmare.
My diagnosis is that our current schism is caused by the rise to power of labor unions and labor union values. Labor unions emerged as the only coherent power after the ruling hereditary elite dissolved in the 1960-65 period. The evidence of this thesis is the emergence of ‘wokism’ in the U.S and Israel at the same time. And the total union control of the California body politic where unions are the strongest in the country.
With a random legislature, labor unions would not dominate the selected bodies. There would be union members, of course, but they would be less than 7% of the citizens and would have very little direct influence.
There you have it. My solution and my analysis.