Conventional wisdom holds that the common sense of everyday people finds its voice in elections, and referendums. However, it’s apparent that political campaigns are banal popularity contests at best, and toxic, divisive, ideological battlegrounds at worst. The French philosopher Emil Cioran said: “Ideas should be neutral, yet man animates these ideas with passions and follies,...Continue reading
Closing remarks to Strasbourg’s World Forum for Democracy 2016, by “an interloper from Down Under.” On this day of all days (the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States), it’s good to note that this is a World Forum for Democracy, not a forum for representative government, that unfortunate system that...Continue reading
A participating community is a thoughtful community, it is a purposeful community.– Kate Auty, ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment and City of Melbourne Ambassador In a political landscape where trust has been eroded and the public are for the most part disengaged and disillusioned, it is refreshing to see state and local governments...Continue reading
Iain Walker, Executive Director of the newDemocracy Foundation, chats with Tom Elliott on 3AW Radio Melbourne. The subject is the proposed donation by the newDemocracy Foundation for a Citizens’ Convention to let citizens reform democracy.
Geelong Citizens’ Jury Final Report | Victorian Government Response to Citizens’ Jury Final Report In April 2016 the State Government acted on the recommendation of an independent Commission of Inquiry and dismissed the Greater Geelong City Council, and committed to consult the community about its local governance model before the next council election....
by Patric Chalmers, The Guardian, Saturday 2 July 2016 These are difficult days for democracy. European nations struggle to elect governments on low turnouts. Populists wielding half-truths go from strength to strength. Facts are a devalued currency, personalities never more important. People use ballot boxes to bloody the noses of the political elite. Young people...
Sydney Morning Herald | Comment | July 2, 2016 In Australia, our cities are gleaming, our beaches glowing, and our politics pathetic. Cheap point scoring and sloganeering have become hallmarks of modern democracy, yet many people are turned off by these antics. But it’s no one’s fault. It’s systemic. We’ve all been weaned on...Continue reading
Sydney Morning Herald | Comment | July 2, 2016 In Australia, our cities are gleaming, our beaches glowing, and our politics pathetic. Cheap point scoring and sloganeering have become hallmarks of modern democracy, yet many people are turned off by these antics. But it’s no one’s fault. It’s systemic. We’ve all been weaned on...Continue reading