To decide who would serve in the Council of 500, the chief governing body of Athens, Athenians used a system known as the sortition.
“For a democracy to give full power to the people to run things, and not just the wealthy, you had to choose people at random.” There were very few elections in Athens, because the ancient Athenians didn’t think that elections were the most democratic way of choosing officials, says Eric Robinson, a history professor at Indiana University and editor of Ancient Greek Democracies: Readings and Sources. WATCH: Why do Americans vote on Tuesdays? Representatives Chosen by Randomizing Machine
America 101: Why do we vote on the first Tuesday?
