Hélène Landemore explains her radical approach to fixing democracy and removing oligarchy from our governments.
Can Ancient Athens provide a model for saving our modern democracies?
With a free trial, you can watch Hélène debate the economics of democracies and dictatorships at https://iai.tv/video/the-iron-fist-vs-the-invisible-hand?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=description
We tend to think that more democracy means more elections. But political theorist Hélène Landemore argues that to become more democratic, we in fact need fewer elections. Our current system concentrates power in the hands of a professional political class that has become disconnected from ordinary people and is easily captured by economic interests. The solution takes inspiration from ancient Athens, and involves randomly selecting normal citizens, like a jury, and giving them the power to make political decisions. Populist movements are correct in their diagnosis of a failing system, but have reached for the wrong solution.
#politics #democracy #philosophy #uspolitics #politicalphilosophy
Dedicated to reimagining democracy as a system that truly empowers people, Hélène Landemore is a political philosopher and Professor at Yale University. As founder of Yale’s Citizens’ Assemblies research program and a Distinguished Research Fellow at Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI, she blends deep theoretical insight with practical innovation.
Landemore challenges traditional electoral democracy by arguing for a more inclusive, deliberative model—one that better captures collective intelligence and democratic reason. Her work, including advising OpenAI’s Democratic Inputs to AI program, explores how democratic institutions can become more stable, representative, and capable of addressing today’s complex political and technological challenges.
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00:00 Populism, oligarchy, and dictatorship
00:44 How would your concept of more democracy but fewer elections work?
05:53 What is wrong with Western democracy in its current form?
07:55 Would open democracy lead to an increase in illiberal policies?
11:44 Why would a group of non-experts be superior to experts in solving a problem?
13:45 In practice, how would you get people involved in this new form of government?
17:55 Would open democracy lead to greater inefficiency in decision making?
22:45 How will the non-elected public remain informed about decision making?
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