The Athenian Option: Radical Reform for the House of Lords

by Anthony Barnett

Overview

Before New Labour came to power and when even the prospect of reform of Britain's House of Lords was regarded with scepticism, Anthony Barnett and Peter Carty developed the idea of selecting part of a new upper house by lot: creating a jury or juries, that are representative of the population as a whole while being selected at random, to assess legislation. This new edition of the original proposal includes an account of the reception of the idea, their evidence before the Commission on the Lords established by Tony Blair, and a response to the great advances in citizen-based deliberation that have taken place since the mid-1990s. It concludes with a new appeal to adopt their approach as efforts to reform the Lords continue.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845406363
Publisher:	Andrews UK
Publication date:	01/17/2017
Series:	Sortition and Public Policy , #5
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Anthony Barnett was the first director of Charter 88 and is the founder of openDemocracy.net; Peter Carty is a journalist and writer.

Editorial Reviews

"[The Athenian Option, A People's Parliament and A Citizen Legislature] raise important issues for the future of our democracy. Their appearance is a sign that the public philosophy which has for so long governed our political arrangements has become outworn."

Times Literary Supplement - Vernon Bogdanor

"This new edition adds to the original volume the deliberations thereon of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords and the reaction in the press."

Liberator - Stewart Rayment

"Well-presented and argued works and I recommend them ['Athenian Option' and 'A People's Parliament'] to anyone with an interest in democratic governance... The use of the lot in the ways discussed in these books merits more careful consideration than it has received to date."

Political Quarterly - Andrew Blick