Is an IQA of 500 Citizens Manageable?

An IQA of 500 Citizens is Manageable

The initial size will be 500 Citizens. The key problem in setting the size of the planned IQA is to make it large enough to represent accurately the views of all the People, yet be small enough to be manageable. It is a problem confronting all national assemblies. Their practical experience is of paramount importance as they have evolved over centuries to these sizes after much trial and error.

National assemblies in 13 typical developed Countries (Canada, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States) range in size from 300 to 660 members, with an average of 480. These national assemblies conduct their business with reasonable representation of the people and are considered manageable.

The planned IQA will consist of Citizens who are not making a career, not seeking publicity, and not competing to be reelected—i.e., the absence of many factors that drive discord and competition. Consequently, it is expected that the IQA will be more manageable than an equivalent size national assembly.

To set the agenda for the electorate, the ancient Athenians used a Council that consisted of 500 randomly selected voters who served for one year. This system survived successfully for about 180 years.

In order that the planned IQA has flexibility to fine-tune its size based on experience over the years, it will be permitted a membership range of 300 to 600, but will start with 500 citizens.