"representative democracy", ie. choosing government official through elections (to "represent you") results in assemblies that are not representative of their populations (in the "statistically 'representative' sample" sense)
look at any modern western parliament, and it is heavily biased towards rich / elites / landlords
(... because they are the ones who can afford to stand out through the election process, or, are connected to those who can help them afford it)
Athenian democracy specifically avoided elections for this reason
and preferred sortition (random selection) to multiple different assemblies
the US founding fathers specifically avoided democracy (choosing to form a republic, in model after Rome instead of Athens)
eventually, the "democracy" was usurped to legitimize/white-wash elections as "rule of the people"
...and now, "democracy" in common use is less about the specific governance mechanisms, but the various related ideals
moving our modern systems towards sortition doesn't just mean, say, "replace parliament elections with random allotment", there would likely be more structural and procedural changes
like additional checks-and-balance by creating multiple assemblies
in Athens, they had separate ones for "agenda setting / law drafting" vs "voting on laws"
"professional" politicians "know better" than a random citizen
...are better informed, are more efficient at the art of politics
mob rule (abuse of minorities at the hand of majority)
could become "captured" by the bureaucracy
bureaucrats have longer tenure than elected/sortitioned officials and can use that to accumulate power and manipulate the assembly
could be easily swayed by skilled orators
no "accountability"
...
arguments for sortition
"statistically" representative of the general population
elections heavily bias towards wealthy and elite
even if biased towards self, can better represent the people's interests
elected politicians often just vote based on what they know personally (or in their networks)
elected politicians are often "captured" by special interest groups
elections motivate parties to divide the population and sow division
elected politicians are motivated by short-term effects to improve re-election chances
elections lead to focus on polarizing wedge issues, campaign-contribution-attracting issues, and short-term issues
more cognitive diversity
parties force an entire package of policies
actual deliberation happens (to determine what is best)
...
IMO...
first-past-the-post based "democracies" are a farce, a sufficiently believable illusion of "rule by the people" to keep the populace content, while allowing a minority to stay in control
in Canada, senate could reasonably be switched to sortition
many already argue it could be abolished, but IMO, there's an opportunity to use it as a "gateway" towards sortition (ie. shift the Overton window)