Philosophy Bites Alexander Guerrero on Lottocracy
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Mar 24, 2026 Alexander Guerrero, a philosopher at Rutgers who champions lotocracy and sortition as alternatives to elections. He explains replacing elections with randomly selected representatives. He discusses eligibility rules, term structure and pay, and ways lotteries could curb fundraising and corruption. He weighs competence concerns, training and pilot trials, and compares lotocracy to citizens’ assemblies and ancient Athenian practice.
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Replace Elections With Randomly Selected Legislators
- Lotocracy replaces elections with random selection to choose representatives for legislative roles.
- Alexander Guerrero proposes multiple single-issue legislative bodies made up of randomly chosen citizens to make tasks manageable.
Pay Well And Protect Participants To Encourage Service
- Do not make service compulsory; encourage voluntary participation through decent pay and legal protections like jury service provisions.
- Guerrero recommends paying around $100,000 a year and protecting participants' work and family life.
Sortition Lowers Electoral Capture And Enables Strong Anti-Corruption Rules
- Random selection reduces the need for campaign fundraising and courting media, lowering incentives for traditional corruption.
- Guerrero suggests legal safeguards and conditional payments plus rewards for reporting bribery to deter graft.