ABC LATELINE: Voters should have more say in policy

Australian Broadcasting Corporation | Broadcast: 02/09/2014 | Reporter: Margot O’Neill Australians could be encouraged to re-engage with the political system if they were given more say in big policy decisions. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL REPORT AND VIDEO

Darebin’s citizen jury calls for Preston community house

The Weekly Review Melbourne Times. By Sian Watkins| 10:08:AM 02/09/2014 A group of Darebin residents given $2 million by Darebin Council have recommended that it be spent on establishing a community house in East Preston and improving the hilltop area of All Nations Park. The “citizens’ jury” also recommended that the council install exercise equipment...

Darebin: Jury allocates cash

RESIDENTS HAVE SAY ON COUNCIL SPENDING On Preston Leader, Melbourne by Julia Irwin ADDRESSING disadvantage was a priority for Dare- bin’s first citizens’ jury when it delivered its verdict on how to spend $2 million from the city’s budget. Darebin is believed to be the first council in Victoria to introduce participatory budgeting, which gives resi-...Continue reading

For democracy’s sake, give power to the people

Nicholas Reece, THE AGE, 1 September 2014. A radical experiment in democracy has begun at Melbourne Town Hall. But it does not involve online activism, marching in the streets, or the Occupy Movement. Instead it draws on the earliest democratic traditions together with some new thinking from social scientists to trial a new approach to...

The Future of Democracy. Altius Conference: Oxford 2014

POLITICAL REFORM I work in a family company involved in urban infrastructure.  I’m no political science student and, up until relatively recently, have had no real interest in politics. My main interaction with politicians was through the regular rounds of party political campaign lunches and dinners. I was a regular invitee, as a businessman/potential donor....Continue reading

City of Melbourne People’s Panel (2014)

Read the Panel’s recommendations here. Participatory budgeting processes traditionally focus on a component of discretionary budget – such as a representative’s ability to ringfence a couple of million dollars for community facilities. However, in many ways the larger challenge in budgeting is the dominance of interest groups coupled with the capacity to present any and...Continue reading

Challenging futures of citizen panels

Authors: Mann, C.; Voß, J.-P.; Amelung, N.; Simons, A.; Runge, T.; Grabner, L.: Innovation in Governance Research Group, Department of Sociology, Technische Universität (TU) Berlin Abstract: This report emerged from the workshop “Challenging futures of citizen panels”, held by the Innovation in Governance Research Group on April 26, 2013, at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and...Continue reading

ABC The Drum. Ten ideas to fix government

By Beverly Parungao As a slew of ICAC inquiries tear through NSW politics, a group of experts pitch their ideas to fix government. Do these plans have merit, and are there other proposals that should be pushed? Beverly Parungao writes. The St James Ethics Centre held a major debate on July 1st on ways to...Continue reading

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