Books
The Keys to Democracy
Price range: £14.95 through £25.00
Sortition — also known as random selection — puts ordinary people in control of decision-making in government. This may seem novel, but it is how the original Athenian democracy worked. In fact, what is new is our belief that electoral systems are democratic. It was self-evident to thinkers from Aristotle to the Renaissance that elections always resulted in oligarchies, or rule by elites.
In this distillation of a lifetime’s thinking about the history and principles of democracy, Maurice Pope presents a new model of governance that replaces elected politicians with boards, councils and assemblies that are all selected by lot. The re-introduction of sortition, he believes, offers a way out of gridlock, apathy, alienation and polarisation by giving citizens back their voice.
Pope’s work — published posthumously — grew from his unique perspective as a widely travelled English classicist who also experienced the injustice of apartheid rule in South Africa. His great mind was as much at home with the history of philosophy as the mathematics of probability.
Pope lays out a vision for a government entirely based on random selection and citizen deliberation. Sortition-based democracy, he believed, is the only plausible way to achieve each element of Abraham Lincoln’s call for a democratic government “of the people, by the people, for the people”.
Read the author’s preface here
Hardback
250 pp.
£25
Paperback
250 pp.
£14.95
Sortition — also known as random selection — puts ordinary people in control of decision-making in government. This may seem novel, but it is how the original Athenian democracy worked. In fact, what is new is our belief that electoral systems are democratic. It was self-evident to thinkers from Aristotle to the Renaissance that elections always resulted in oligarchies, or rule by elites.
In this distillation of a lifetime’s thinking about the history and principles of democracy, Maurice Pope presents a new model of governance that replaces elected politicians with boards, councils and assemblies that are all selected by lot. The re-introduction of sortition, he believes, offers a way out of gridlock, apathy, alienation and polarisation by giving citizens back their voice.
Dr. Brett Hennig Director and Co-Founder, Sortition Foundation –
“Maurice Pope was obviously something of a visionary, predicting the modern reincarnation of sortition in the form of citizens’ assemblies years before the recent “deliberative wave” was even a tiny ripple on a few dis-parate ponds. He was also incredibly knowledgeable and insightful. His arguments and reasoning as he sets out the case for sortition are still highly relevant today.”
Claudia Chwalisz, Chief Executive Officer of DemocracyNext –
“Maurice Pope’s book provides a compelling basis for the next democratic paradigm. He makes it clear that what we refer to as ‘democracy’ today is rather an oligarchy of elected elites—and that it was intentionally designed as such. It’s why we need to reclaim the true meaning, values and processes of democracy. Pope shows us why the ideal of government by the people is not only desirable, it is also possible if we return to democracy by random selection of representatives (sortition). It gives us hope.”
Dr. Heather Grabbe, Open Society European Policy Institute –
“Required reading for our times. Innovation in democracy has never been more needed now that climate change requires long-term collective action underpinned by democratic consent—over decades to come. This bold proposal combines Maurice Pope’s insights into ancient methods of democracy with a brave vision for the future that overcomes the limits of representation.”
Prof. Richard Youngs, Senior Fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace –
“Maurice Pope’s call for random selection-based democracy is a powerful, pre-emptive herald to the current expansion of citizen participation. It has the distinctive merit of connecting the field of sortition design to wider historical trends and political philosophy. In doing so, his book adds invaluable intellectual ballast to the quest for better democratic practices. Pope’s masterful tract shows that today’s attempts to involve citizens in politics should not be dismissed as an ephemeral fad, but have deep roots in politi¬cal concerns and debates extending back many years.”
Michael Keating, Executive Director of the European Institute of Peace –
“Informed by a learned and entertaining sweep of the pedigree of democracy, this erudite book makes a cogent case for the merits of sortition as a means of revitalising citizen engagement and improving the quality of political decision making, while not hiding the obstacles to its adoption in the years ahead. At a time of growing cynicism, it should be read by anyone seeking creative ways to boost trust in politics.”
Annika Savill, Formerly Executive Head, UN Democracy Fund –
“Those of us who yearn for citizens’ assemblies to be better respected, understood and used as a transformative tool for democracy, will find much solace and hope in Maurice Pope’s pioneering book. Having a work of such calibre and prescience at our side will surely help many hitherto covert sortition supporters come out of the closet once and for all.”
Various authors –
Follow this link for all praise related to The Keys to Democracy:
https://hughpope.com/2023/03/04/praise-for-maurice-popes-the-keys-to-democracy/
Nick Coccoma, The Similitude –
“Encountering the book… is like discovering a time capsule: we peer into the mind of a genius whose work reaches out from the past and yet, in its perspicacity and ambition, stretches way ahead of us. It’s also a delight to read. Pope’s voice speaks through the text in his breezy style and inimitable wit; the anecdote and humor that he peppers throughout make his points like being invited in and given a cup of tea in one hand and a stick of dynamite in the other—except the dynamite explodes your mind.”
Josine Blok, H-Soz-Kult –
“Pope offers excellent observations on deliberation as a crucial ingredient of democracy and on the potential of sortition to prevent oligarchisation (the ‘law of Michels’), meritocracy and other problematic forms of hierarchy… Written with an open, engaging style, The Keys to Democracy is set to win a wider audience for its important and pressing message.”
Joanna Podgorska-Rykola, Law, Economics and Sociological Movement –
“The Keys to Democracy fits perfectly into the body of research on random selection and its possible applications in politics and decision-making processes.”
Erica Benner, author of Adventures in Democracy: The Turbulent World of People Power –
“I am loving this posthumous gem of a book… strongly recommended.”
James Kierstead, Polis –
“I also want to emphasize again how much I enjoyed reading this book. Pope is an interesting mind, and even the reader that still scoffs at the idea that our political systems should be more random will find things to enjoy in the boldness and ingenuity of his arguments and the breadth of his interests. And anyone who has had their cautious suggestions about the potential of sortition dismissed as ludicrous will marvel at the confidence and independent-mindedness with which Pope sets out his arguments, even the ones that ultimately fail to persuade.”
Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Arnold A. Saltzman Professor of Conflict Resolution at New York’s Columbia University, former head of UN Peacekeeping Forces and former president of The International Crisis Group. –
“The Keys to Democracy truly convinced me that sortition is a way to restore the dignity of each and every human being, and is part of the answer to the ills of our societies.”