Should we be Lottocrats?

In light of representative democracy’s failures, from an inability to effectively address pressing problems to the yawning economic inequality and deep polarization that it sustains, the need for reform is obvious and urgent. In the democratic theory literature, there is growing interest in the potential of lottery-based political institutions as replacements for traditional forms of electoral democracy. Alexander Guerrero’s Lottocracy (Oxford University Press, 2024) is among the most interesting, challenging, and provocative arguments for lottery-based political institutions. Engaging with its arguments is a valuable opportunity to assess where the case for such institutions stands. In this critical essay, we develop concerns about (1) the critique of representative democracy that has given rise to interest in lottery-based solutions, and (2) the potential of lottery-based solutions to solve the problems that ail representative democracies.