As for content, I think the voter participation argument, while valid, doesn’t bolster the case for sortition and citizen assemblies very much. If 100% of eligible voters actually voted, even if a different outcome occurred from an election, doesn’t change the nature of the problem with the electoral system in the US. For the main two problems with the electoral system here are one, that the people chosen in primaries or just back rooms to run against each other are often unfit for office, and two, that people don’t get a chance to participate in between elections (you do mention this one). I’m sure you’ll come to both of these in the book. But I’ve come to believe that elections like we have can’t be democratic in the sense that they can’t guarantee representation for the vast majority of citizens. The people running for office are a self-selected or party-selected group that tend towards representation only for lobbyists and others in the political hierarchy.
Three English mistakes early on. There are two “to”s together in the second paragraph. Then there is a sentence in the third paragraph that starts with “But” and then goes on after a comma with “however”. Finally, the last sentence in the third paragraph ends with a comma and “however”. I think that sentence needs a little more explanation, and I don’t think the paragraph should end with a however.
As for content, I think the voter participation argument, while valid, doesn’t bolster the case for sortition and citizen assemblies very much. If 100% of eligible voters actually voted, even if a different outcome occurred from an election, doesn’t change the nature of the problem with the electoral system in the US. For the main two problems with the electoral system here are one, that the people chosen in primaries or just back rooms to run against each other are often unfit for office, and two, that people don’t get a chance to participate in between elections (you do mention this one). I’m sure you’ll come to both of these in the book. But I’ve come to believe that elections like we have can’t be democratic in the sense that they can’t guarantee representation for the vast majority of citizens. The people running for office are a self-selected or party-selected group that tend towards representation only for lobbyists and others in the political hierarchy.
Three English mistakes early on. There are two “to”s together in the second paragraph. Then there is a sentence in the third paragraph that starts with “But” and then goes on after a comma with “however”. Finally, the last sentence in the third paragraph ends with a comma and “however”. I think that sentence needs a little more explanation, and I don’t think the paragraph should end with a however.
Thanks for the fine-toothed-comb editing. It is very helpful.