Tagged democracy | The Mandarin

Rome’s Augustus and the allure of the strongman

The Roman emperor Augustus is often held up as a model statesman, but a University of Melbourne expert warns admirers should be careful what they wish for. Read More

Martin Parkinson: public servants should school rookie MPs and ministers

The public service should provide training to new members of parliament, ministers and their staff, in the view of senior Commonwealth secretary Martin Parkinson. He also thinks his colleagues should put the spotlight on the cost of restructuring. Read More

Citizens’ chambers: towards an activism of selection by lot

Sortition would address the yawning deliberative deficit and weaken many of the pathways by which polarisation, cronyism and party influence occurs, says Nicholas Gruen. In a recent paper, James Fishkin identifies some potential shortcomings of citizens' chambers which justify his own preference for ad hoc, and temporary citizens' panels. He makes some good points. His central concerns are that a citizens' chamber might: have insufficient technical expertise be susceptible to corruption and not maintain the high quality of deliberation achieved in the best ad hoc citizens’ juries. These are legitimate concerns. But they have a 'theoretical' ring to me. Read More

Is our democracy broken?

While many Australians are still coming to terms with having five Prime Ministers in as many years, what does the future look like for the world’s sixth oldest continuous democracy? Read More

The West’s age of retreat

Liberal democracy is in an age of retreat and needs to re-engage citizens, tackle inequality and end internet monopolies, argues a University of Melbourne expert. Read More

Australian democracy needs a ‘Department of the Opposition’

Democracy needs a true contest of ideas. But that's not easy when one side of politics has little support to develop alternative policies for years at a time. Public policy researcher Martin Bortz explores paths back to meaningful competition. Read More

The information that democracy needs

LONG READ: Without a decent flow of information in this popular democracy, how can we have anything like our “equal share” in its power, asks Bret Walker SC in the Whitlam Oration 2018. Read More

What would you do if you had $2 million to invest in democracy in Australia?

What would you do if you had $2 million to invest in democracy in Australia? Last year, the Australian government awarded two organisations $1 million each under the Business Research Innovation and Investment Program. Read More

Australians want more democracy, research shows

Three-quarters of Australians want a federal ICAC and a majority want a greater say in what government does. New research has been published just as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull entertains a corruption watchdog rethink of his own. Read More

Whose interests? Why defining the ‘public interest’ is such a challenge

The idea of the public interest is central to public administration, but its exact meaning is hard to pin down. Recent events show it's about more than just compliance. Read More

Why local council elections are undemocratic

Through quirks of history that give votes for corporations and extra votes to property owners, local government elections in five Australian states are subject to unfair rules that have no place in Australia’s 21st-century democracy, argues Ryan Goss. Read More

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