Radio National. Shaping democracy for the people

Presented by Jonathan Green. Sunday 5 July 2015.

Winston Churchill once said, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others”.

70 years on, with a world facing unprecedented challenges including climate change and growing inequality, could our democratic system use a bit of tweaking?

In the UK last week, a major think tank called for the House of Lords to be replaced by a citizens’ senate.

Similar recommendations have been made in Canada.

And many have hailed the recently concluded, “Melbourne People’s Panel”, a group of 43 Melburnians who were randomly selected to advise the Melbourne City Council on policy, a huge success.

Would a national citizens’ senate improve our parliamentary system? And how far can participatory projects go towards reclaiming democracy?

Listen the program HERE.

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