Re: POLI: Random democracy

The Low Golden Willow (phoenix@ugcs.caltech.edu)
Fri, 21 Feb 1997 13:40:04 -0800 (PST)

} hanson@hss.caltech.edu (Robin Hanson) writes:
} >You could now run for office on a platform that if elected, you will
} >replace yourself with a randomly selected member of your electorate.
} >Since people do not now run on such platforms, I suspect that voters
} >do not in fact trust such a random person to do as well. Also, voters

I'm not sure the benefit would work at this scale. Between limited
choice of your representative, and _one_ random person from your
district, I'm not sure which is the rational choice. Statistics work
best on a large scale.

Tribalism, public good problems, and the general trend to entropy seem
to be the more annoying parts of the universe.

Re: sunset/forest fire: the Voiting Rights Act of 1965 requires periodic
extension.

Merry part,
-xx- Damien R. Sullivan X-) <*> http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~phoenix

"It was no sin, only a failure. 'And even if my troop fell thence
vanquished, yet to have attempted a lofty enterprise is still a trophy.'"
-"Forty-two years in Holy Orders, you hear all the sins in the Lexicon.
But angelism! Now there's a genuine rarey."
-- Julian May, _The Adversary_