Quotations:

"I believe, for example, that it is to be regarded as democratic if the rulers are determined by lot, while elections must be regarded as oligarchic.“ Aristotle (384-322 BC), Greek philosopher. From "Politics," Book 4

„Voting by lot is in the nature of democracy, voting by choice is in the nature of aristocracy.“ (Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, 1748)

„In all true democracies the office of magistrate is so far from being advantageous that it is a very burdensome charge, which cannot justly be imposed on one individual rather than on another. The law alone can impose the charge on the person upon whom the lot falls.“ (Rousseau, The Social Contract, 1762/1947)

Our democracies do not protect the majority of citizens, but defend the interests and privileges of elites.That’s why we are calling for citizens' assemblies to be held, as in ancient Athens, assemblies whose members are determined by lot. (Carola Rackete, extinction rebellion /Tagesanzeiger 2.11.19.)

"The lot system enables the rotation. It is an ideologically free, money-independent, non-controllable form of selection of representatives. It's against spoils system and elite." (Laura Huonker, AL Zürich, march 2019)

Clearly spoken, you can also say if the sortition is done, the poor rule, with the election the rich are in power. This is a question of statistics. If the rich are once the majority of the population, more rich people will be sorted. It can also be assumed that half of the people sorted will be women.

History of the process of sortition:

The process of sortition is already mentioned in the Bible for decision-making, e.g. used in the distribution of land. With the Greeks, a little less with the Romans, in the Middle Age in different city-states and different areas, the process of sortition was appointed until the middle of the 19th century. It was used in political decision-making on different levels and in different ways. Preventing the polarisation of society and preserving human dignity were important reasons for sortition. But fundamentally it was about democracy and justice.

Here and now, what is the case against elections? See, who was „elected democratically" lately: Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, Boris Johnson.The one with the biggest mouth and the largest purse wins.It’s really not the torment of choice, but the choice of torment. But the people have spoken, and that must be respected. Or maybe not? But the people are at the mercy of the political parties and interest groups that put their candidates – like the aristocracy in the past, or a meritocracy nowadays. After that, everything will be done to ensure that re-election is successful and the positions of power and sources of income are secured. Apart from that, turnout at elections is always low. Usually only a minority is voting. An acute consequence of disaffection with democracy, voting and political parties.

Is election the deeper sense of democracy? No. Elections restrict democracy rather than promote it. What can we do instead of voting? Sortition. A tried and tested method of real democracy. We can spare ourselves expensive election campaigns, scandals and the difficult search for candidates. All people must have the opportunity to participate directly in politics. Because everything is a bit more complicated today than in ancient Greece, a combination of election and sortition would be a good choice.