Ordinary People Rule (finding a path to true democracy with James Bacchus)

Ever since the ancient Athenians first attempted a democratic approach to governance, nations worldwide have been attempting to perfect it. Some things we’ve gotten right; for instance, many nations have decided that the Athenians’ exclusion of many groups of people was not conducive to democracy, and instead have elected to include all people, not just men who owned land. But we’ve oftentimes gotten things wrong, too. How can we reinvent democracy, given what we know now?

In this episode of Policy Prompt, Paul and Vass welcome James Bacchus, a former member of the US Congress, a founding judge, twice chairman and chief judge of the Appellate Body at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, director of the Center for Global Economic and Environmental Opportunity at the University of Central Florida, CIGI senior fellow, and much more, to discuss how a true global democracy could be formed, one that accurately represents all nations and that dutifully involves all humankind. Many of us are quite removed from the “democratic” proceedings of our nations. What if we had the right to participate?

Mentioned:

• Chinese coal plants: apnews.com/article/china-coal-solar-climate-carbon-emissions-242abe76eb69f5a362e977de74ff3254
• 8 The Economist Democracy Index: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Democracy_Index
• Gerrymandering:
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering#:~:text=Gerrymandering%2C%20
• Participatory Democracy: www.govocal.com/blog/what-is-participatory-democracy
• Sortition, the “jury duty” system: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortition
• The Pnyx, an important site in the creation of democracy: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pnyx
• Athenian Democracy: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy
• “Living Democracy,” a philosophy of John Dewey: share.google/qXy5uA1tEdqhZowtl
• Food shortages in Central Florida due to government shutdown mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2025/10/15/central-florida-food-banks-step-up-as-government-shutdown-impacts-families

Further Reading:

• James Bacchus bio: cigionline.org/people/james-bacchus/
• James Bacchus books: google.ca/search?sca_esv=4ee06a5b294f010f&hl=en&q=inauthor:%22James+Bacchus%22&udm=36

Credits:

Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our supervising producer is Tim Lewis, with technical production by Henry Daemen and Luke McKee. Show notes are prepared by Rebecca MacIntyre, Libza Manna and Isabel Neufeld, who also handles social media engagement, brand design and episode artwork by Abhilasha Dewan and Sami Chouhdary, with creative direction from Som Tsoi. 

Original music by Joshua Snethlage. 

Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault. 

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