Fear and loathing in Australia

Successive federal governments have called into question the values that lie at the very heart of Australia’s hard-won and cherished democratic freedoms.

Listen to the people

Although he once quipped that “You can never plan the future by the past” could the work of 18th-century political theorist Edmund Burke, famed for his cautionary take on the French Revolution, help modern democracies escape their current malaise?

The year of the fake election

Eight of the ten most populous countries in the world – Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia and the United States – will hold elections in 2024, but far from celebrating democracy, many of these exercises will merely rubber stamp the governing regime in polls which are neither free nor fair.

Reimagining democracy

Social media and artificial intelligence are often framed as threats to liberal democracy, but new technology could also be used to revitalise and modernise democratic interactions.

Democracy in decline?

The ascendancy of democracy seemed assured after the collapse of Soviet domination in Europe but after reaching a zenith in 2012, there are now fewer democracies, fewer people live in democracies, and most established democracies have veered towards more authoritarian responses.

Challenges to Pacific democracy

Democratic norms and practices have a solid foundation in the Pacific, but the events of 2022 prove that this cannot be taken for granted.

Tackling Australian corruption

Australia will roll out a new national anti-corruption body after the country recorded its worst ever score on an index that ranks anti-corruption measures worldwide.

A bad year for the bad guys

The death-knell for democracy is always being tolled, but the weakness and folly of authoritarian rule has proved itself this year, epitomised by the Russian dictator’s disastrous invasion of its democratic neighbour, Ukraine.

Democracy v the dictators

Just as autocracies ally with each other to stay in power, so the world’s democracies must unite against the current tide of tyranny.

The end of democracy?

A number of social, international and technological trends are converging to threaten the democracy and social cohesion we have taken for granted for decades.

#Democracy

There are two common ways of thinking about democracy in the online era. First, the internet is a liberation technology and will usher in an era of global democracy. Second, you can have social media or democracy, but not both.

Celebrating Australian democracy

In seeking to safeguard our democracy, we must consider the extent to which Australians’ long-standing apathy about our democratic system allowed Morrison to treat it with such contempt.