Opponents of democracy often raise the spectre of social disorder. Over the long term, it is only democracy and the rule of law that will provide for the long-lasting peaceful rule of the nation.
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Articles on Democracy Futures
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Surely it isn’t too far-fetched to claim that if migrants are to promote democracy back home, it is beneficial for them to experience democratic values and principles in the countries hosting them.
Election monitoring has become an international norm for maintaining electoral integrity. A new survey finds a world of difference between the high hopes and dire realities of poll-watching.
Political campaigns today are presented as products of bottom-up participation, not top-down direction. But even if a campaign appears grassroots-driven, it’s likely to be run from the centre.
The tradition of republicanism offered us civil religion, a foundation of belief that could counter any politics or policy that demands sacrifice in this world to be compensated in some “beyond”.
The first two stops in the travelling show called the Next American President did not lack entertainment. There were four different winners and plenty to talk about: some of the candidates cried foul…
Donald Trump has applied the lessons of winning a TV audience to politics. Much as we might deplore the theatre of entertaining voters, we can’t wish it away.
This article is part of the Democracy Futures series, a joint global initiative with the Sydney Democracy Network. The project aims to stimulate fresh thinking about the many challenges facing democracies…
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?
What kind of society do our so-called “Western and networked democracies” count as normal if humans are constantly objectified, monitored and profiled?
Voting for national leaders has become the global norm in a remarkably short time – in Africa in 1988, only 25% of countries had multiparty elections, but 94% do today. Yet all is not well.
Firmly back in control after winning snap elections, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AKP government are reducing democratic process to a rubber stamp for their undemocratic project.
Democracy’s problem is not the crisis but the triumph of capitalism. Democracy has become market-conforming, resulting in whole sections of society lacking meaningful representation.
History offers countless examples of social change that is now consolidated and popularly supported, but which was only achieved through protests that were judged at the time to be extreme.
Mobile video technology means outrageous behaviour and abuses can rapidly become public knowledge, but achieving just outcomes still depends on a political willingness to act on such knowledge.
While the internet penetration rate in the developed world sits at 81%, two-thirds of the developing world are still without access.
The recall is an ancient electoral procedure that has gained support in recent decades as a means for voters to defend the democratic state against extremism and serious abuses of power.
In both domestic and international politics, Iran’s ruling clergy is enjoying a much more secure position than previously.
Top contributors
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Assistant researcher, University of Sydney
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Research Fellow, University of Exeter, University of Exeter
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Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney
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Professor of Politics, University of Sydney
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Senior lecturer in democracy studies, University of Canberra
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Professor of Politics, University of Bristol
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Professor of Comparative Political Science and Democracy Research at the Humboldt University Berlin; Associate of the Sydney Democracy Network, University of Sydney; Director of Research Unit Democracy: Structures, Performance, Challenges, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
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Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory, London School of Economics and Political Science
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Associate Professor of Politics, Australian Catholic University
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Associate Professor, Australian Catholic University
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Lecturer in Politics, University of Sheffield
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Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communications, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney
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Research Fellow, Democracy and Citizen Engagement, Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, University of Canberra
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Professor and Chair of Linguistics, University of Sydney
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Professor of History & Head of the National School of Arts, Australian Catholic University
