I just finished reading Joe's Citizen Democracy Idea. The argument leading up to it is sound historically, logically, and statistically, and so it seems rather compelling to me, while the tentative objections raised against it seem fairly easy to get around.
Another context in which a random sample is better than the whole thing: a blood sample. How would you like it if the doctor said, "No, a sample isn't good enough; we need all of your blood for the lab test." ? This example might have some application in the effort to educate the public about the Citizen Democracy Idea. Alex alluded to H.G. Wells. My favorite is R.A.Lafferty's short story "Polity and Custom of the Camiroi" which is a sequel to "Primary Education of the Camiroi" which includes a curriculum outline for that planet's public schools. The course called "World Government" hardly resembles the Earth courses by the same name. Camiroi children enrolled in that course are required to govern a world, though not one of the first aspect worlds, for a period of a few months. If we ever get Citizen Democracy, our civics courses will suddenly become extremely relevant; more like the Camiroi courses; watered down versions will no longer suffice. Which student will say, "I'm never going to need this."? Bye, bye apathy. Forest ---- For more information about this list (subscribe, unsubscribe, FAQ, etc), please see http://www.eskimo.com/~robla/em
