The strange alliance between demagogues and despots ought to puzzle and worry every thinking person, and it needs to be understood.
- Professor of Politics, University of Sydney
Lee says Hong Kong is up against an emergent Chinese empire and fears violence on both sides will soon spiral out of control.
The best defence against post-truth politics is not ‘the truth’. Democracy should resist the political tyranny of claims to some immutable truth as a basis for governing the lives of others.
The wars in Syria and Iraq are products of secretive decision-making by the executive. Their disastrous consequences are evidence of the need for war powers reform.
Current events show that the old problem of populism is making a comeback, and that populism is indeed an autoimmune disease of our age of monitory democracy.
This research note on Mexican politics and society was inspired by a recent visit to Mexico City, Puebla and Oaxaca, as a guest of the country’s Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE). Visitors to Mexico are…
The following notes on the politics of rising uncertainty and the future of democracy were prepared for the inaugural CISS global forum, Peace and Security under Uncertainty, Quarantine Station, Sydney…
Spain has been transformed into a democratic laboratory, where the participation and use of new communication strategies are ready for experimentation and innovation.
Political scientists trained or based in the Atlantic region have a bad habit of ignoring trends in our Asia-Pacific region. When they do pay attention to its dynamics, they often misleadingly measure…
We live in darkening times, so it’s time for some dark humour. Inspired by the antics of a Big Man with a Big Mouth, think just for a moment about the important subject of how democracies treat their elected…
According to German public intellectual Claus Offe, Europe faces multiple crises but is not down and out yet.
Attacks like the one in Berlin harm democracy because they spread fear and self-censorship among citizens.
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus once observed that Persian rulers indulged the habit of getting drunk when making important decisions. When sober and sensible next morning, their custom was to reconsider…
There’s a widespread belief that actually existing democracies are in the grip of a fast-paced world dominated by breaking news and all things instant. The following contribution sets out to question this…
Donald Trump is the latest example of populism’s return to the global political landscape. Nine scholars from seven countries examine the link between populism and democracy.
In this special The Conversation project, scholars and commentators from around the world examine the rise of populism, and its implications, now and into the future.
Martin McKenzie-Murray’s recent take-down of Julian Assange and Wikileaks misses the mark in many ways.
Populism is a hot topic around the globe right now, and much can be learned from studying its history.
This is the slightly rewritten text of my address to the opening plenary session, ‘New Enlightenment Neue Aufklärung’, at the European Forum Alpbach, Alpbach, Austria, 28 August 2016. Ladies and Gentlemen…
Earlier parts of this series on capitalism and democracy raised questions about the tense and often contradictory relationship between capitalist markets and the egalitarian spirit and power-humbling institutions…
Part two of this series on capitalism and democracy introduced the unusual idea of ‘democracy failure’. Instead of seeing democracy as the hapless victim of capitalist markets, as Marxists and others have…
Liberty is a political matter bound up with institutionalised struggles for equality among individuals, groups, networks and organisations. This is where the cult of the free individual falls down.
Part one of this series on capitalism and democracy probed the famous remark of the American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen that there are historical moments when ‘democratic sovereignty’ is…
Written several days ago, the following thoughts on the unfolding crisis in Turkey began their strange life as a tweet. It read: ‘failed Turkish coup shows that in the age of communicative abundance power…
Let’s begin with a discomforting fact often forgotten in recent years: ‘free market’ capitalism is not necessarily the best friend of democracy. Since the early years of the 19th century, especially during…
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