Lottery Legislators
Lottery Legislators (3/1/2010)
America’s democracy is corrupted by the influence of corporate money. To fix our broken democracy we should do away with electing members of Congress and senators. I propose we set up a draft lottery system for selecting our legislators.
Here’s how it would work. Adult American citizens willing to serve as members of Congress or senators would put their name into a lottery drawing. Winning representatives would serve only one three year term and Senators would serve only one six year term. State lotteries could be staggered to rotate new representatives and senators into congress regularly. Or, all representatives could be selected at the same time every three years and all senators at the same time every six years. Winners of the lottery would be paid a salary and a Washington D.C. housing fee. They would be required to attend a two month civics class to better prepare them for their legislative duties. Lottery legislators would also receive funds for operating offices with appropriate staff with only up to one half comprised of family or friends. No other income or funds could be received by lottery winning legislators or their family or friends from lobbyists during their one term service time or for the rest of their lives. Anyone trying to influence legislators by monetary valued gifts would be prosecuted for bribery. Any legislator taking any extra money or gifts would be prosecuted for theft and corruption.
This legislative lottery will be patterned party on a lottery system already operating in the judiciary branch of America’s democratic government where voting citizens are randomly chosen to serve a time of duty on a jury during trials. Just as juries are comprised of one’s peers, congress would be comprised of one’s peers. Again, only adult American citizen willing to serve as legislators for one term would enter the lottery.
I believe this legislative body chosen randomly by lottery would be much more representative of America than our current system of representatives. America’s judiciary system of jury duty lotteries have a history of a high percentage of deciding guilt and innocence accurately and fairly. It’s not a perfect system but it is a system Americans have a high level of confidence in.
Another example of an American lottery system occurred during the Viet Nam War when the United States utilized a lottery system for choosing men to be drafted into military service. This draft lottery was generally viewed as being a fair system for choosing draftees.
While it may seem undemocratic to choose our representatives and senators by lottery instead of elections, it may actually be more representative.
Currently about 65 percent of senators and forty percent of representatives were millionaires before becoming legislators. In recent years it cost an average of 5 million campaign dollars to run for senator and costing on the average of one million dollars to get elected a representative. How can this be representational government when less than one percent of Americans are millionaires?
After the recent Supreme Court ruling (Citizen United v. Federal Election Commission – 1/21/2010) equating the rights of corporations with the rights of individuals and equating the sending of money with the freedom of speech, we will see a dramatic increase in political campaign spending in a system already spending an ungodly amount of money to influence and buy politicians and elections. A lottery system with a one term limit would eliminate all funding for campaign corruption and congressional vote buying. I would still keep in place the election system for choosing the President and state governors but I would establish a public financing system to try to eliminate corporate corruption in this elections.
It is difficult to imagine America giving up its illusion of democratic elections of representatives and senators in exchange for a lottery system to randomly select our representatives. Our present system of elections can best be described as an auction, with our representatives being owned by the highest bidders. This system will only become more corrupt in the years ahead with the influence of unlimited corporate money.
The lottery system is an alternative to the auction system we now have. If you look at America’s recent election history and the way congress works, and look at the direction it’s headed, you would have to admit that a lottery system couldn’t do any worse than the system we have. A lottery system certainly would at least make a more entertaining reality show than the current congress we see on CSPAN and the nightly news. We just have to persuade our current legislators and senators to change the constitution to institute a lottery. America’s democracy would be the big winner!
