Word
Sortition
Selection by lot, especially the choice of people for public duties
Examples
The assembly used sortition to choose a citizens' panel from the eligible pool.
Sortition changed the question from who could win a campaign to who could be drawn.
Origin
Sortition belongs to the language of drawing lots. Ancient Athens used lotteries for many public positions, although Athenians did not assign every responsibility that way. Chance was built into an organized procedure, not substituted for rules altogether.
How it connects
Sortition names the deliberate use of chance in assigning public work.
This word appeared in Giving chance a constitutional job, the Involves connection for September 16, 2026, which asked: Why would a democracy select officials by lot?
Check yourself
Which process is sortition?
Draw eligible residents' names at random for a public panel. Exactly. Sortition assigns places by lot rather than popularity or appointment.
What the sources establish
Sortition is selection by lot, used for many but not all Athenian public duties.
Sources
The Athenian Constitution (Aristotle; Internet Classics Archive), Part 43: Council of Five Hundred; later sections on elected and allotted offices
Politics, Book IV (Aristotle; Internet Classics Archive), Part 9: selection by lot and election in mixed constitutions