How Selecting Voters Randomly Can Lead to Better Elections

At the same time that turnout is low, the issues put to voters are increasingly complex. States ask voters to decide on issues ranging from drug laws to arcane budget rules. In 2010 California voters were asked to decide on 14 such propositions, in addition to choosing candidates for local, state, and federal office. Few people have enough time to make thoughtful decisions, so these important questions are decided based on snap judgments and 30-second TV ads. James Fishkin, director of the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford, argues that our system isn’t living up to its democratic potential: “There is so little time for deliberation that some people make leadership choices based on whether they like a candidate’s hairstyle.”

Fishkin has charted a new course by organizing small-group deliberations as part of legally binding decision processes in 18 countries, including Greece and even China. A randomly selected group of ideally 200 to 300 citizens spends one or two days listening to experts on both sides debate the merits of an initiative or a candidate. Then the group votes and the results are enacted.

Dieter Rams On Good Design As A Key Business Advantage

“A designer who wants to achieve good design must not regard himself as an artist who, according to taste and aesthetics, is merely dressing up products with a last-minute garment. The designer must be the gestaltingenieur or creative engineer. They synthesize the completed product from the various elements that make up its design. Their work is largely rational, meaning that aesthetic decisions are justified by an understanding of the product’s purpose.”

I love Dieter Rams

Design For Purpose | TightWind

minimalmac:

So when considering creating something new, don’t think about it as what it literally does. Think about what it will accomplish for people. Make this your project’s defining thesis, its reason for existing. And once you’ve settled on what that purpose is, design ruthlessly for it. Don’t compromise it.

Yes. This. A million times this.