Schools are a natural fit here. So many young people experience secondary public education (and even college education) as a disempowering and mostly passive exercise. Sortition and deliberation could help empower and involve all young people fairly in decisions that affect them. That's the path to becoming involved citizens in a democracy.
I think Liz was thinking school boards, not student government. Student government typically has no real power or authority over what happens in schools except fringe activities.
You’re right Bob, student govt doesn’t have power— there in lies problem. It should. Schools literally train kids to be good with not having power, right? So actually, I was talking student govt. Adults don’t particularly care, so students could sneak in ways to have inputs—or at least begin to have a collective voice?
The reason that I don’t think school board is adults would never allow… yet. I was on a school board and they are simply a way to give an administration body the veneer of democracy. They are designed to ensure the bureaucracy keeps status quo around what counts (education) vs. what the public sees (grinding cultural issues). So… start with students?
Terry, I think this post is fantastic! NGOs, schools, companies, and other organizations could definitely try sortition for governing structures. With the results known, sortition could then be tried at the government level. And for small town governments like where I live, the scale is about the same, so sortition should work about the same. Can’t wait to hear more!
Schools are a natural fit here. So many young people experience secondary public education (and even college education) as a disempowering and mostly passive exercise. Sortition and deliberation could help empower and involve all young people fairly in decisions that affect them. That's the path to becoming involved citizens in a democracy.
Indeed, in an upcoming post I have a whole section about replacing elected student governments with a sortition systems.
Looking forward to that!
I think Liz was thinking school boards, not student government. Student government typically has no real power or authority over what happens in schools except fringe activities.
You’re right Bob, student govt doesn’t have power— there in lies problem. It should. Schools literally train kids to be good with not having power, right? So actually, I was talking student govt. Adults don’t particularly care, so students could sneak in ways to have inputs—or at least begin to have a collective voice?
The reason that I don’t think school board is adults would never allow… yet. I was on a school board and they are simply a way to give an administration body the veneer of democracy. They are designed to ensure the bureaucracy keeps status quo around what counts (education) vs. what the public sees (grinding cultural issues). So… start with students?
Terry, I think this post is fantastic! NGOs, schools, companies, and other organizations could definitely try sortition for governing structures. With the results known, sortition could then be tried at the government level. And for small town governments like where I live, the scale is about the same, so sortition should work about the same. Can’t wait to hear more!