If people were dropped into a new situation tomorrow, how would they choose to govern themselves?
Just_Super/iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
The modern representative democracy was the best form of government mid-18th-century technology could invent. The 21st century is a different place scientifically, technically and socially.
The digital economy means people are no longer passive consumers.
Image sourced from Shutterstock.com
If Australia’s new prime minister wishes to lead a successful 21st-century government, he must tackle the rise in chronic disease and use data to constantly improve the system.
Australians may not understand how to be innovative, but they definitely want to be.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Estonia has leapt ahead in the adoption of digital technology. Australia could learn a lot from Estonia in terms of e-government.
Under the assertive leadership of Xi Jinping, China won’t meekly accept the terms of closer engagement with Australia being determined by the US alliance.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The past two decades were years of sclerosis and decline in Australia’s once creative and agile foreign policy. A new course must be set to meet the challenges of exciting but risky times.
What should higher education look like given we don’t know what the jobs of the future will be?
from www.shutterstock.com.au
Only the brave or foolhardy would claim knowledge about the shape of jobs for the next decade, let alone the rest of the 21st century. So what kind of tertiary education can prepare students?
It’s high time we gave Australian wildlife a helping hand.
AAP Image/Sam Mooy
A 21st century government would put the environment on at least an equal footing with the economy. That means no more extinctions, and no more putting ourselves before wildlife or future generations.
The internet is becoming the essential infrastructure of the 21st century.
Broadband is coming to be seen as crucial infrastructure for the 21st century, as were roads and electricity for the 20th. But what does a genuinely 21st century broadband network look like?
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull understands innovation, but the government still lacks a coherent innovation plan.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
For the first time, both major parties have a cities portfolio in their front bench team. With a few more changes, the government could create a structure that will really get to grips with urban issues.
To bring arts policy into the 21st century, we need to update and correct the basic economic flaws that were baked into the mid-20th century model.
Fabrik Bilder/Shutterstock
Turnbull’s 21st century vision for government provides an opportunity to fundamentally rethink arts and cultural policy from the ground up and move beyond its 20th century legacy.
The ills that afflict any society can be dealt with much more effectively when the arts are integrated into the national conversation.
John Gollings/AAPONE
What if Malcolm Turbull’s conception of “21st-century government” imagines a healthy civil society and a responsive economy that values debate, imagination, difference and surprise - all provided by the arts.
A fresh start is needed for science and innovation from new PM Malcolm Turnbull and Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Christopher Pyne.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
The challenge for a 21st century Australian government is to capitalise on research and create new jobs, industries and opportunities for the coming century.
Change is coming for Australia’s energy sector. Time for our leaders to embrace it.
Scott Davies/Flickr
Australia’s new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has announced what he calls a “21st-century government”. The Conversation continues its series focusing on what such a government should look like, looking…
Malcolm Turnbull is promising a change in leadership style from Tony Abbott, but that alone won’t be enough to qualify as government for the 21st century.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The Abbott government resisted the disruptive changes of the 21st century. To succeed, the Turnbull government will need to shed this reactionary mindset and embrace inevitable change.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne