An evening with Hélène Landemore - Gower Street

Politicians have failed us. But democracy doesn’t have to.

Bought by special interests, detached from real life, obsessed with re-election. Politicians make big promises, deliver little to nothing, and keep the game rigged in their favour. But what can we do?

With disarming clarity and a deep sense of urgency, acclaimed political theorist Hélène Landemore argues that electoral politics is broken but democracy isn’t. We’ve just been doing it wrong. Drawing on ancient Athenian practices and contemporary citizens’ assemblies, Landemore champions an alternative approach that is alive, working, and growing around the world: civic lotteries that select everyday people to govern, not as career politicians but as temporary stewards of the common good.

Helene Landemore – is a political theorist and professor of political science at Yale University. She is the author of Open Democracy, an influential book that has shaped global debates about citizen participation and democratic legitimacy. Landemore has worked with governments, NGOs, and reformers around the world, from France and Finland to Chile and Taiwan