Media

Very quietly and far from the headlines, Canada has become something of a global leader in democratic innovation and experimentation. Here’s a good news story for anyone exhausted at the prospect of our current 77-day federal election and anxious about the health of Canadian democracy. You might never know it watching the endless reels of...Continue reading

As published on SMH on 25 August 2015 Luca Belgiorno-Nettis It has long been an axiom of government that the key to success is trust. As long ago as Confucius it was held that three things were needed for government – weapons, food and trust – but that if a ruler could not hang on to all three, they must guard...Continue reading

The parliamentary vote on same sex marriage is likely to be defeated, and the Prime Minister is advocating a range of options for what comes next. One is a national plebiscite on the issue at the next election. This would only be the third in Australia’s history.

By Michael Gordon, Political editor, The Age. What struck new MP Tim Watts most about question time when he took his seat in the Parliament after the last election was not the rancour, or the shallowness, or the pettiness or even the name-calling. It was the noise. So Watts downloaded a noise-meter on his iPad...Continue reading

Nicholas Ross Smith & Zbigniew Dumienski A report by Bernard Orsman published in the New Zealand Herald on the state of Auckland City Council found that 88 of the 99 positions in the council’s boardrooms and executive teams were filled by “white men from wealthy suburbs.” While nobody is suggesting that any of these individuals...Continue reading

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...

Nicholas ReeceCitizen juries are one of the most promising innovations to emerge in the conversation about democratic renewal. Melbourne’s radical experiment in democracy has reached a momentous conclusion, with the City Council announcing on Friday it will accept nearly all the recommendations of a 10-year financial plan developed by a citizens’ jury. That a group...Continue reading

How would you like to actively participate shaping government policies, not just indirectly through your vote? Citizen juries allow just that. State and local governments have started to use citizen juries to address issues like infrastructure, budgeting or reforming the electoral system. These participatory democracy projects could radically alter the way all tiers of Australian...Continue reading

InDaily, Adelaide Independent NewsJay Weatherill 25 May 2015 It is true that the power of our ideas will help to drive and sustain South Australia’s future. But when we think about “the next big things” it is important to ask who gets to decide what these are – and who gets included in the discussion. As...Continue reading