Could it happen here?

The threats to democracy in the USA are a global issue, and the differences in our media and political systems won’t limit their impact in Australia forever.

Democratic security

In an era where even Australia’s democratic system faces significant challenges, “democratic security” is an increasingly pertinent issue.

The Federal experiment

The formation of modern Australia was a striking incarnation of modern social organisation in combining liberal democracy with carefully planned bureaucracy.

Get the party started

The history of Australia’s political parties is both fascinating and turbulent, but a political system dominated by mass parties shaped by industrial society may now be a thing of the past.

Presidentialism is a fly in the ointment of 21st century democracy

A comparison of performance between countries with Presidential, Parliamentary and Hybrid political systems suggests that any constitutional change in Australia should absolutely preserve Parliamentary predominance, and avoid any possibility of electing a president by popular mandate. Follow the German, rather than the American, model.

Revitalising democracy

Democracy is under threat around the world and while it continues to function well in Australia there are problems that need intervention to safeguard its future.

Power to the person

The recent US election epitomises a shift in public trust from systems and institutions to successful individuals like Elon Musk and Donald Trump; even though there are fewer or no checks and balances on how they may manipulate circumstances for their own personal benefit. The Trump victory is clearly a Trump victory and not a Republican one.

Should a young person’s vote count for more?

To most people, the idea of ‘one person, one vote’ is sacrosanct, but could a case be made that in certain circumstances, some voters should have more of a say?

100 years of compulsory voting

Australia is one of the few democracies which insists on every voter turning up at the polls – does this keep our democracy healthy or breed complacency among the political class?

Strengthening Australian democracy

The growing threats and challenges to Australia’s democracy are well outlined in a new government report, and now is the time for some action

AI and democracy

The relationship between AI and democracy is the topic of increasingly urgent conversations around the world, but there are opportunities for policy makers to embrace as well as threats from hostile actors.

The birth and death of democracy

In their interesting, carefully crafted book on the problems facing liberal international order, Peter Trubowitz and Brian Burgoon argue that the geopolitical predicament facing the Western democracies is premised on their domestic politics.