Sortition Academy

This course was developed by the Hannah Arendt Humanities Network at Bard College to explore the history of democracy from its ancient roots in a lottery-based system to the emergence and dominance of modern electoral democracies. Democratic practices in Brazil, Taiwan, France, Ireland, Colombia, and Canada are studied to determine if the lottery-based system can depolarize communities and affect governmental policies. All the materials are free to use for non-commercial purposes.