The Citizens’ Assembly Party: Who would Vote for Randomly Selected, Community-Nominated Leaders?
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Most Americans dislike and distrust the two major parties. Third parties have been largely unsuccessful, partly because third-party candidates are also subject to bad incentives. Across three preregistered studies (N=1,418), we assess support for a new kind of political party. A “Citizens’ Assembly Party” (CAP) would promote candidates who lack political experience, but who are expected to more faithfully serve the public interest. The CAP holds open nominations, vets nominees for integrity, and then selects candidates randomly. CAP candidates cannot run for reelection or change occupation post-service. We provide evidence that CAP candidates are expected to be more trustworthy and effective than traditional candidates and that they would be highly competitive in local, state, and national elections with largely bipartisan support and robustness to criticism from traditional elites. These findings provide evidence that a party promoting community-nominated, randomly-selected candidates, though unfamiliar in U.S. politics, could help restore trust in government.
Authors: Lucas Woodley, Joshua D. Greene
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7161733638