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

Geoff Gallop. Australian Politics: A political class takes charge

From the Newsletter of the Southern Highlands Branch of the Labor Party, May 2014   Times like these make it hard for anyone to maintain their faith in the liberating power of politics. Current events remind us that politics creates space for idealists who seek the greatest good for the greatest number as well as...

2013 Estonian People’s Assembly

Faced with public dissatisfaction and demonstrations about the financing of political parties in 2011, Estonian MPs initial solutions to the problems did not address the public’s anger, and in 2012 a decision was taken to establish a process for the public to deliberate on donations to political parties and related electoral laws. A website was...Continue reading

Why I Study Public Deliberation- John Gastil in the Journal of Public Deliberation

The author argues that scholars can best advance public dialogue and deliberation by conducting systematic research on practical innovations that have the potential to improve political discourse. The author explains and justifies this position through a personal narrative that recounts formative experiences with debate, group dialogue, political campaigns, academic research, and electoral reform. Full Article...Continue reading

Moorebank Intermodal Citizens’ Jury (2014)

Moorebank Intermodal Company (MIC) was established by the Australian Government to oversee the development of a freight terminal at Moorebank. The terminal will improve the distribution of freight arriving in Sydney through Port Botany and on the interstate rail network. The terminal will benefit the NSW and Australian economy but it will also have an...Continue reading

How politicians can sell unpopular reforms

From one of our founding board members. Ian Marsh. Australian Financial Review, 28 May 2014. Tony Abbott’s fall from grace has been precipitous. But it is not unprecedented. Its causes are much more fundamental than poor political judgment. How so? Take the precedents. The Resource Super Profits Tax was released in May 2010, and was followed...Continue reading

Kathy Jones. The politics of engagement

Kathy Jones, speaking as a board member of newDemocracy, discussed this challenge in a speech to the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2). Overcoming this distrust of politicians and planning requires finding innovative ways to communicate not only with those residents who are already “engaged and enraged”, but also with community members who are hard-to-reach....Continue reading

reclaim ohio

Reclaim November Ohio

A democratic reform group, Jefferson Action, used a citizens jury to interrogate the policy platforms of the Democratic and Republican candidates for Congress. Interestingly, this was supported and made possible through the active participation of both candidates. The citizens detailed and informed views of the candidates built over tens of hours (rather than the more...Continue reading

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