In July 2014, less than a year after Van Reybrouck's essay Against Elections hit the Dutch bookshelves, Lysette Jacomijn Meuleman completed her European Union Studies master's thesis (pdf, in English, or use this pdf in case the original download from the Leiden University website doesn't work) at Leiden University, named 'Sortition and Deliberation in the EU: An Alternative for Electoral Democracy'. Meuleman's supervisor was Dr. mr. A.I. Richard, her second supervisor Prof. Dr. J.Q.T. Rood.
Abstract:
'Democracy is under pressure in Europe. On national levels trust in politicians and the political system is decreasing, satisfaction is low and protests are increasing. People feel not heard by their chosen representatives and some start to experiment with other forms of democracy. This discontent is especially visible in relation to the European Union that is accused to have severe democratic deficits. This started a debate on the current electoral representative system. This thesis investigates if the democratic deficit of the EU can be solved by introducing citizens’ bodies based on sortition, the random selection of Citizens instead of electing representatives.'
Source:
- Sortition and Deliberation in the EU: An Alternative for Electoral Democracy (pdf), July 2014
(or use this download as an alternative)
See also: