We say that people “throw their hat in the ring” when they run for election. But what if, instead of an election, we just selected a hat at random and its owner won the office? Election lottery is an old idea that’s becoming new again as a way to repair our civics.
Elections may be the quintessential social good in a democracy. They are the service that helps set the policy and funding for other social goods.
I visited Estonia in the mid-1990s. Back then, I said it would be fascinating to return in 20 years and see what changed.
We have elections all over the place: within companies, nonprofits, homeowner’s associations, kid’s sports league. Civic elections are a social good. As with all social goods, marketing principles apply to elections.
If you file federal taxes in the United States, do you check the box on the return form to donate $3 to the Presidential Election fund?
In her TED talk, Pia Mancini makes the point that much of what we consider democracy has been designed around the printed press, a technology that’s nearly 500 years old and being rapidly supplanted by the digital revolution. How do we design a digital democracy?
It’s primary election season in California. Sometimes we compare elections to the corporate hiring process, talking about “the best person for the job” or “tossing someone out of the office.” Extending that comparison, the campaign process becomes analogous to interviewing candidates. In my voter’s pamphlet (with its awful governmental page layout), several candidates emphasized their...Continue reading