ReThinking: Taking politicians out of politics with Hélène Landemore

Worklife with Molly Graham

Hélène Landemore is a political scientist at Yale who studies democracy. She has a radical idea for fixing politics: what if we replaced career politicians with citizen assemblies, filled with people chosen by lottery? In this episode, Hélène and Adam discuss the history of this idea, tracing back to Ancient Greece and the birth of democracy, as well as recent examples of countries and states that have tried this bold method of governance. Hélène responds to some common questions and concerns about citizen assemblies, and Adam breaks down some evidence supporting the notion that ordinary citizens may be more fit to serve and lead than professional politicians.


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For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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Hélène Landemore is a political scientist at Yale who studies democracy. She has a radical idea for fixing politics: what if we replaced career politicians with citizen assemblies, filled with people chosen by lottery? In this episode, Hélène and Adam discuss the history of this idea, tracing back to Ancient Greece and the birth of democracy, as well as recent examples of countries and states that have tried this bold method of governance. Hélène responds to some common questions and concerns about citizen assemblies, and Adam breaks down some evidence supporting the notion that ordinary citizens may be more fit to serve and lead than professional politicians.


Featured guest


Connect with the team

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2026-02-10 38 min
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