What if your president was determined by lottery? - Michael Vazquez episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 28, 2026 · 9 MIN

What if your president was determined by lottery? - Michael Vazquez

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Dig into sortition, a system where officials are selected via lottery, and how it could address the problems of modern democracies.--Elections are tools that ensure a nation’s citizens all have an equal political voice. But these so-called “great equalizers” are often plagued by corruption, partisan divides, and uninformed voters. Which is why some of democracy’s first and most famous practitioners used a different approach: sortition. Michael Vazquez explores how this system could address modern democracy's biggest problems.Lesson by Michael Vazquez, directed by Avi Ofer.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/should-we-replace-politicians-with-randomly-selected-people-michael-vazquezDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/should-we-replace-politicians-with-randomly-selected-people-michael-vazquez/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://aviofer.com Music: https://www.workplaywork.com----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora, Noel Situ, emily lam, Sid, Niccolò Frassetto, Mana, I'm here because of Knowledge Fight Facebook group., Linda Freedman, Edgardo Cuellar, Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, Michael Burton, VIVIANA A GARCIA BESNE, The Vernon's, Olha Bahatiuk, Jesús Bíquez Talayero, Chels Raknrl, Sai Pranavi Jonnalagadda, Stuart Rice, Jing Chen, Vector-Dopamine math, Jasper Song, Giorgio Bugnatelli, Chardon, Eddy Trochez, OnlineBookClub.org, Eric Shear, Leith Salem, Omar Hicham, Adrian Rotaru, Brad Sullivan, Karen Ho, Niklas Frimberger, Hunter Manhart, Nathan Nguyen, Igor Stavchanskiy, James R DeVries, Grace Huo, Diana Huang, Chau Hong Diem, Orlellys Torre, Corheu, Thomas Mee, Maryann H McCrory, and Blas Borde. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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What if your president was determined by lottery? - Michael Vazquez

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