[Membership] James Fishkin proposes Internet Deliberative Council

[Wendy Seltzer <wseltzer@law.harvard.edu>]

A new membership model, suggested by University of Texas Professor James
Fishkin, would select a random sample of Internet users to participate in a
deliberative council.  The selected members would be briefed from all
viewpoints and deliberate as a group before voting for directors or giving
consulations on issues of public interest.

This model, Fishkin proposes, would reach the decisions that the majority
of Internet users (or other defined group) would make if fully informed.
It also attempts to reach the _public_ interest, to avoid capture by a
self-selected group or lobby.  He suggests that the Deliberative Poll, on
which his model is based, reaches more representative, participatory, and
democratic decisions.

A fuller description of Fishkin's model is online at
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rcs/fish.html

--Wendy Seltzer
Wendy Seltzer
Berkman Center for Internet & Society 		617-496-0089
Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA 02138
wseltzer@law.harvard.edu || wendy@seltzer.com
Representation in Cyberspace: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rcs/