David Van Reybrouck

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David Van Reybrouck (2010)

David Grégoire Van Reybrouck (born September 11, 1971 in Bruges , Flanders , Belgium ) is a Flemish- speaking Belgian author, historian and archaeologist.

Life

Van Reybrouck's father worked there as a railway engineer immediately after the former Belgian colony of the Congo gained independence . His son received his doctorate from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands .

Van Reybrouck's first book in 2002 was De Plaag (The Plague). It is set in South Africa after the end of apartheid and has won several awards in the Netherlands and Belgium. In 2007 he was co-author of a situation report about his home country, which in 2008 a provocative book with the title Pleidooi voor populisme. Pamflet ( plea for populism ) followed. His best known book is Congo from 2010 . Een geschiedenis , which appeared in German in 2012. It tells the history of the Congo from colonial times to the recent past.

Today Van Reybrouck is organizing workshops for Congolese writers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo both in Kinshasa and in Goma in the east of the country .

In 2011 Van Reybrouck was elected chairman of PEN Vlaanderen .

Birepresentative system

2016, in Against Elections: Why Voting Is Not Democratic , Van Reybrouck pleads for a "bi-representative system" of people's representation with two chambers - one elected and one drawn :

“I believe that the dramatic systemic crisis of democracy can be remedied by giving the lottery a new chance.”
“Chosen citizens may not have the expertise of professional politicians, but they have something else: freedom. You don't need ... to be re-elected. ” (P. 156)
“ It will restore some calm. Elected citizens (our politicians) are then not only harassed by commercial and social media, but know they are flanked by a second body for which election fever and audience ratings are completely irrelevant. ” (P. 157)
“ It is important to be aware that the reasons given today against drawn citizens are often identical to the reasons given at the time against granting the right to vote to farmers, workers or women. " (p. 158)

He also lists a number of “bi-representative” proposals (p. 137 ff.) That concern a drawn chamber that stands next to an elected parliament, ie does not replace it; the elected and drawn chambers should complement each other. All proposals provide for good pay and a good number of employees so that the mandate is attractive to as many as possible. In a similar direction have argued u. a .:

  • Ernest Callenbach , Michael Phillips (USA): Conversion of the House of Representatives in the USA into a Representative House. To this end, the 435 people's representatives should no longer be elected, but drawn by lot. The Senate remains as an elected body. In doing so, they hope to reduce the too strong influence of “big money”. A third of the members of parliament are elected for three years each year.
  • Anthony Barnett , Peter Carty (UK): The House of Lords in Great Britain (the seats are still largely hereditary today) is to be replaced by a drawn chamber. It should not have a right of initiative, but a right of control.
  • Keith Sutherland (UK): Transformation of the House of Commons into a drawn chamber. Minimum requirements in terms of competence, training and age (at least forty years) should be made of the participants in the draw.
  • Ives Sintomer (F): Introduction of a third drawn chamber in France alongside the Assemblée and the Senate . The Chamber's work should focus on long-term issues such as ecology, social issues, electoral law and the constitution.
  • Hubertus Buchstein (EU): Establishment of a second chamber next to the European Parliament with drawn citizens: House of Lots . Two hundred MPs with compulsory participation - proportionally by member state. With right of initiative for laws and veto right.
  • Terrill Bouricius (USA): divides the drawn chamber into six, to which he assigns (fixed) areas of responsibility: Agenda Council (AC): Selects topics for legislation. 150–400 people, full-time with good pay, drawn from among volunteers, one third every year for three years. Petitions can also be submitted to the AC. Interest panels : Should draft legislative proposals. 12 people each, unlimited number of panels, voluntary work without pay. Review panels : turning the proposals into bills. The work is similar to that of parliamentary committees. Consists of 150 people, divided into several panels, full-time with good pay, drawn from among volunteers, one third every year for three years. Policy Jury : Appointed for a law on which it advises and decides after public presentation. 400 people, each newly drawn from among all adult citizens, compulsory participation, meet for several days, daily allowance and travel expenses. Rules Council : Decides on the rules (so to speak, the constitution) and can change them constantly, but is not allowed to give itself more authority. This makes Parliament a self-learning system. Consists of 50 people, drawn from among volunteers, one third each for three years, full-time with good pay. Oversight Council : Controls the legislative process, handles complaints, approx. 20 people, drawn from among volunteers, full-time, good pay, one third each for three years.

Prizes and awards

Van Reybrouck received a number of awards for his book Congo: Een geschiedenis , including:

Fonts

Web links

Commons : David Van Reybrouck  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Van Reybrouck, David
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Van Reybrouck, David Grégoire
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian, Flemish author, historian and archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH 11th September 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Bruges , Belgium