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One thing I want to do on this show is give space to truly radical ideas, to expand the boundaries of our political and moral imaginations. And H\xe9l\xe8ne Landemore, a political scientist at Yale, has one of those ideas. She calls it \u201copen democracy,\u201d and the premise is simple: What we call democracy is not very democratic.\n\nThe role of the people is confined to elections, to choosing the elites who will represent us. Landemore argues that our political thinking is stuck in \u201c18th-century epistemologies and technologies.\u201d It is not enough.\n\nWe\u2019ve learned much in the last few hundred years about random sampling, about the benefits of cognitively diverse groups, about the ways elections are captured by those with the most social and financial capital. Landemore wants to take what we\u2019ve learned and build a new vision of democracy atop it \u2014 one in which we let groups of randomly selected citizens actually deliberate and govern. One in which we trust deliberation and diversity, not elections and political parties, to shape our ideas and to restrain our worst impulses.\n\nThis is a challenging idea. I don\u2019t know that it would work. But it\u2019s a provocation worth wrestling with, particularly at this moment, when our ideas about democracy have so far outpaced the thin, corrupted ways in which we practice it.\n\nYou\u2019ve heard people say, \u201cWe\u2019re a republic, not a democracy.\u201d Landemore\u2019s challenge is this: What if we were a democracy? We honor those who came before us for radically reimagining who could govern, and how politics could work. But did they really discover the terminal state of democracy? Or are there bold steps left for us to take?\n\nRecommendations:\n\nLiquid Reign by Tim Reutemann\nThe Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas\nThe Principles of Representative Government by Bernard Manin\nMortelle Ad\xe8le Book Series\n\n"The Ezra Klein Show" is hiring an Associate Producer! Apply to work with us by visiting nytco.com/careers.\n\nYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of "The Ezra Klein Show" at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein.\n\nThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.\n\n\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\u201d is produced by Rog\xe9 Karma and Jeff Geld; fact-checking by Michelle Harris; original music by Isaac Jones; mixing by Jeff Geld.