It is usually assumed that decisions should be based on weighing up reasons, while lottery procedures leave you at the mercy of blind chance.

At first glance, this seems irrational. In fact, however, decisions by lot have always been made in many areas of life, not least in politics.

This lecture explores the question of how lottery procedures were justified in the past and uses historical examples to show how they worked.

Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger is a historian and Rector of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.
She has received many awards, including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize from the German Research Foundation.