On the Approach to the Election to Office in the Grand Council

In the mode of pro and contra, Francesco Guicciardini's text retraces the debate on the electoral procedures that were employed in the Grand Council of Florence in the late 15th century. He opposed the supporters of the electoral system of majority suffrage (known as "the largest number of beans") in favor of those who proposed to proceed by lot (tratta) among the counselors whose competence had been previously recognized by ballot. Faced with this alternative, the Florentines rediscovered the aristocratic and democratic nature of election by lot. The text offers one of the first modern theories of representative government, while presenting a critique of the electoral process in a manner that anticipates contemporary philosophical and sociological debates. Adapted from the source document.