Most self-government happens at a distance, through people we elect. The jury is the exception, the one place the government's power is handed directly to twelve ordinary people in a room. Why the founders wrote this right into the Constitution three separate times, and why they deliberately handed the decision to amateurs rather than experts.

Field Notes on the Republic was written and read by Michael Fowler. It was produced for Quorum (Supply Co.), an American civic purveyor. Music is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," performed by the U.S. Military Academy Band, West Point.