View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-did-democracy-really-mean-in-athens-melissa-schwartzberg

While we might consider elections to be the cornerstone of democracy, the Athenians who coined the term actually employed a lottery system to choose most of their politicians. Melissa Schwartzberg describes the ins and outs of the Athenian democracy, and addresses some ways in which a lottery system might benefit us today.

Lesson by Melissa Schwartzberg, animation by TED-Ed.