Sortition is the random selection of people for positions of authority from a general pool. Those selected may serve individually or in juries and typically have the time and resources to become well informed on the questions they are chosen to decide.
Input: census of community members, randomization method, appropriate training
Output: advisory recommendation or binding decision
Sortition was a basic feature of Athenian democracy. During the medieval and early-modern period it was used for governing some Italian city-states, such as Venice and Florence.
In recent political systems, it is used most commonly for the formation of citizen juries for trials. But it has had other scattered uses in recent history, from Amish communities to national constitutional reform processes.