Australia is a representative democracy. Citizens who are equal, with a shared responsibility for good government, elect people of different backgrounds and perspectives to set community standards. Those elected are not obliged to tell the truth or act in the public interest or forbidden to act in their own interests or the interests of their...Continue reading
newDemocracy Foundation Research Project 2015-7 Final Research Report, 13 April 2017 Dr A. Wendy Russell Double Arrow Consulting Deliberative ‘mini-public’ processes such as citizens’ juries are becoming increasingly popular in Australia at local and State levels. As such, they are developing currency and impact as tools for engaging with communities on contentious political decisions. Impact,...
Welcome to our latest update on the pursuit of a better democracy. We haven’t managed to write a newsletter for some time now; and that hasn’t been for want of an array of issues and concerns to write about. Amidst the cacophony of political slogans that have dominated world airwaves of late – Make...Continue reading
Lyn Carson – Research Director, The newDemocracy Foundation What is the question? How can participants in mini-publics critically and effectively, hear and learn from expert witnesses in a way that ensures they understand the challenges being considered? NB: This R&D Note is focused on human experts in the decision-making space and not on published or online...Continue reading
Lyn Carson – Research Director, The newDemocracy Foundation What is deliberation and how does it differ from usual political discussion? Deliberation foregrounds a very important difference in the way political discussions can occur. This note describes that difference while highlighting its importance. Here, we are speaking about public deliberation, not the internal deliberation that we each...Continue reading
The troubled Geelong City Council is likely to go to election in October after the Victorian Government announced it supported recommendations from a group of local residents. The council was sacked last year and put into administration following a report which found it was so dysfunctional it could not govern properly. Councillors, including high-profile mayor...Continue reading
Infrastructure Victoria’s experience shows citizen juries can play a vital role in delivering major milestones. This lends weight to the idea of institutionalising deliberative democracy. Infrastructure Victoria’s year-long journey to create a 30-year infrastructure strategy was a big undertaking for the newly formed organisation of around 30 people. It knew it was crucial to get...Continue reading
Lyn Carson – Research Director, The newDemocracy Foundation What is the question? How can we enhance the ability of randomly-selected citizens in mini-publics (such as citizens’ juries) to understand and evaluate expert evidence? What are the usual answers? It is sometimes assumed that we have an innate capacity to think critically. Some people are born...Continue reading
RECENTLY I was contacted by The Daily Telegraph’s Andrew Clennell about a story on the number of younger than average people who are ministers in Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s Cabinet. A range of ages is a good thing and nothing to be concerned about. What concerns me is the lack of breadth of experience we find...Continue reading