1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 Welcome to episode 3 in Season 3 of&amp;nbsp;Real Democracy Now! a podcast. Season 3 is about elections, electoral systems, electoral reform and alternatives. In this episode I’m speaking with Professor John Gastil. John is a Professor in the Communication Arts and Sciences and Political Science at the Pennsylvania State University as well as a Senior Scholar in the McCourtney Institute for Democracy. He studies political deliberation and group decision making across a range of contexts. &amp;nbsp; Recently John and Erik Olin Wright, as part of the Real Utopias project, held a three-day workshop called Legislature by Lot. Thanks to David Schecter I was able to interview John shortly after this workshop to learn more about what was discussed. A copy of the agenda for the workshop which includes the attendees is available with the Show Notes for this episode. &amp;nbsp; John described this workshop as ‘a deliberation about deliberation’. &amp;nbsp; John spoke about the origins of the Legislature by Lot workshop [1:32] the different ways to implement sortition (random selection) [3:54] some of the arguments in favour of a legislature selected by lot [5:44] different models of sortition [7:40] responding to criticisms of legislature by lot [10:11] how to design an oversight body to support a legislature selected by lot [14:10] the prospect of institutional change and transition strategies [18:34] moving the agenda of using sortition forward [23:43] how much work is happening around the world to test and promote the use of sortition [28:35] what representation and accountability means for bodies selected by sortition [30:29] deliberation, consensus, contention and voting [34:35 and 38:50] what the workshop agreed on [43:18] what might happen after the workshop: building links between researchers and practitioners [45:34] responses to critiques of empowered mini-publics [49:35] when the book arising from the workshop will be published [53:07] John mentioned the work of the Sortition Foundation, the newDemocracy Foundation to promote the use of sortition. &amp;nbsp; Thank you for joining me today. In the next episode I will be speaking to Dr Alan Renwick about electoral reform around the world [54:11]. &amp;nbsp; I hope you’ll join me then. Real Democracy Now! a podcast http://www.realdemocracynow.com.au <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5805023/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/f0112c/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/item/5805023