Recent studies have shown declining levels of trust in democratic systems. We asked experts to consider democracy’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Senior Lecturer in Democracy Studies, University of Canberra
Tax season is fast approaching, but there are limited opportunities for Canadians to influence how their taxes are spent. Here’s how a new innovation could lead to a more democratic tax system.
What if we could direct where our taxes went and see the invoices paid. It’s a serious suggestion.
People under 18 can leave school, get a job, drive a car and pay taxes. Should they be allowed to vote too?
Democracy takes many forms, some of them democracy in name only. Confusion and misappropriation complicate the public struggle for the democracy to come, but this challenge is always unending.
If democracy were an animal, which one would it be? This short play, set in an Australian pub, explores this question to contrast ways we understand democracy and our roles within it.
Uber actively encloses what could be a more open city in which riders and drivers work to benefit city residents.
We can draw inspiration from the successes of non-humans, learn from their group decision-making and gain insights from analogies. And with every extinction of a species we lose such possibilities.
Democracy must evolve in response to the threats we pose to the environment and to ourselves. We can learn from how other species make collective decisions, solve problems and survive.
Despite the popularity in other disciplines of inter-species thinking, it’s ignored in democracy research. Why is that? Why can we not conceive of democracy as anything other than uniquely human?
TPP negotiations have been covered in secrecy, and now as details have been released it only shows a wider democratic deficiency.
There is a growing canyon now separating politics as understood and practiced by political authorities from the political practices of everyday people.
Shinzo Abe’s government (now in its second term) has consistently been vocal about Japan’s national defence.
Democracy – despite being considered by many as the only legitimate form of government – has no laureates to call its own.
To endow animals with human emotions has long been a scientific taboo. But if we do not, we risk missing something fundamental about both animals and us. – Frans De Waal Some time ago I began reading scientific…
Five years on, the response of governments around the world to the global financial crisis (GFC) continues to draw criticism. Leaders failed to fulfil the promises they made during the GFC’s darkest days…
The Abbott government, when faced with opposition over the past year, has commonly resorted to two lifeline statements. The first is that it’s carrying out the “will of the people”. And the second is that…
Editor’s note: the research paper on which this article is based has been retracted by the journal. Stegodyphus dumicola is a social spider. This curious little creature lives in shared nests with more…
In late 2012, at least 117 workers died in a garment factory fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Kalpona Akter, a union activist from Dhaka, and Sumi Abedin, a survivor of the fire, retold their stories at an Oxfam-sponsored…
Democracy in Zimbabwe is a troubled creature. Yet Zimbabwean women are leading the way with a democratic agenda that offers inspiration, instruction and, indeed, a critique for Australian democracy. Oxfam’s…
Across Australia tonight, thousands of Australians will aim their tweets at the ABC’s flagship forum Q&A in an attempt to get some brief screen-time on the program. Joining with their tweeps, they…
It was painful to see the Olympic rings taken down from London Bridge after the Olympics only to be replaced by the Paralympics emblem (the three agitos). Aside from the fact this emblem was not chosen…
As I sat there this morning watching the London 2012 closing ceremony, I was impressed by the artistry, choreography, stage-setting (an artistry unto itself), music and the sense of celebration in the…
As the giant bureaucratic beast that is the IOC lumbers through London, locals can be heard saying, “I don’t remember voting for this”. The Olympics is a strangely undemocratic affair: locals of host cities…
This weekend, South Brisbane will play host to the Paniyiri Festival, one of Australia’s largest cultural events. From May 19 to 20, thousands are expected to join the celebrations and delight themselves…
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