Helene Landemore argues for recovering democracy's original meaning by placing ordinary citizens rather than elected representatives at the heart of political power. Landemore, a political theorist at Yale, contends that electoral democracy has become oligarchic, concentrating power among professional politicians and wealthy donors while alienating most citizens. She proposes 'open democracy,' featuring citizen assemblies chosen by lottery, rotation of offices, and direct participation mechanisms that draw on the 'wisdom of crowds.' The book examines historical examples including ancient Athens and contemporary experiments like Iceland's crowdsourced constitution and Ireland's citizen assemblies on abortion and same-sex marriage. Landemore develops theoretical arguments for why cognitively diverse groups of ordinary citizens make better decisions than homogeneous elites, drawing on epistemology and social choice theory. She addresses practical objections: How would sortition work at scale? How would expertise be incorporated? How would citizens be motivated to participate? The book combines normative political philosophy with empirical social science and institutional design, moving between abstract argument and concrete proposal. Landemore writes for scholars and citizens interested in democratic renewal, offering not nostalgia for an idealized past but designs for a future where self-government might become real rather than merely nominal.