Libsyn Directory

2.11 If you could change one thing about democracy, part 2

Release Date: 06/01/2017

Real Democracy Now! a podcast

In this episode, I talk with Anouch Toranian, the Deputy Mayor of Paris, Yves Dejaeghere, the Executive Director of the Federation for Innovation in Democracy, Europe and Claudia Chwalisz, leader of innovation in citizen engagement with the OECD about the design and establishment of the Paris Citizens' Assembly.

3.8 New Zealand's Electoral System with Therese Arseneau

Real Democracy Now! a podcast

I'm speaking with Therese Arseneau about the introduction of a mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system. Therese talks about the background to the referendum which led to the introduction of MMP in New Zealand [1:20], how voters view the impact of MMP [13:20], the reality of MMP and coalition governments [21:20], the impact of MMP on women's representation [28:10], its wider impact [34:00] and Maori representation generally and the impact of MMP [39:30].

3.7 Electoral systems in Australia with Antony Green

Real Democracy Now! a podcast

In this episode, I’m talking with Antony Green about the Australian electoral system and Vote Compass, a tool which allows voters to explore how their views align with the major parties.

3.6 Reforming democracy, democratic legitimacy and majority bonuses with Dr Camille Bedock

Real Democracy Now! a podcast

In this episode, I’m talking with Dr Camille Bedock about her book Reforming Democracy: Institutional engineering in Western Europe, 1990 - 2010 and also about her more recent research with Sophie Panel on citizen conceptions of how democratic their democracy is and with Nicolas Sauger on how electoral systems with majority bonuses affect electoral competition.

3.5 Electoral Integrity with Pippa Norris

Real Democracy Now! a podcast

In this episode, I am speaking with Professor Pippa Norris about her work on electoral integrity.

Bonus Ep10 Deliberation Culture Context - John Dryzek

Real Democracy Now! a podcast

In this episode, I’m speaking with Professor John Dryzek about his ARC Laureate Fellowship, his reflections on the Conference generally, how we might establish global deliberative processes and directions for future research in this area.

Bonus Ep9 Deliberation Culture Context - Quinlan Bowman

Real Democracy Now! a podcast

In this episode, I’m speaking with Dr Quinlan Bowman about his reflections on the Conference Deliberation, Culture and Context.

Bonus Ep8 Deliberation Culture Context - John Parkinson

Real Democracy Now! a podcast

In this episode, I’m speaking with Professor John Parkinson, who is currently a Professor of Social and Political Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Maastricht University, The Netherlands.

Bonus Ep7 Deliberation Culture Context - Ian O'Flynn

Real Democracy Now! a podcast

In this bonus episode I’m speaking with Dr Ian O'Flynn about his work on deliberation in divided societies.

Bonus Ep6 Deliberation Culture Context - Stephanie Lawson

Real Democracy Now! a podcast

In bonus episode 6 I’m speaking with Professor Stephanie Lawson, Professor of Politics and International Relations at the Macquarie University about her paper ‘Consensus Politics and Democracy in the Pacific Islands: A Critique’ which she presented at the Deliberation, Culture and Context conference.

More Episodes

I ask all of my guests two questions:

what for them is the essence of a real democracy? and
if they could change one thing about our system of democracy what would it be?

In episode 1.9 we heard from a number of the guests I interviewed in Season 1 (about deliberative mini-publics) on their view of the essence of a real democracy. And in episode 2. 5 we heard a range of ideas for ‘one change to democracy’. Today is another episode where guests share their idea for that one change (sometimes two) to our system of democracy.

I’ve found the answers people have given to this question fascinating. As I mentioned last time, sometimes people want changes that directly relate to their area of interest and other things they identify an important change in a completely different part of our democratic system.

First up we hear from Peter MacLeod from MASS LBP in Toronto Canada. I interviewed Peter in episode 1.6 about MASS LBP’s work designing and delivering Citizen Reference Panels.

Next is Titus Alexander from Democracy Matters in the UK. Titus was part of episode 1.10 where he talked about the facilitation process for the two UK Citizens’ Assemblies.

In episode 1.3 I spoke with the Premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill about why he supports deliberative mini-publics.

Professor Brigitte Geißel from Goethe University in Frankfurt was part of episode 1.18 discussing how she approaches evaluating deliberative mini-publics.

Next is Professor Leonardo Morlino from LUISS in Rome who was part of episode 2.3 talking about how to evaluate representative democracy.

Also in episode 2.3, talking about how to evaluate representative democracy was Professor Wolfgang Merkel from WZB in Berlin.

Next is Zelalem Sirna from Ethiopia who is a PhD student in Portugal. Zelalem was part of episode 2.4 about non-western democracy.

Professor Mark Warren from the University of British Columbia explained his problem-based approach to democratic theory in episode 2.7.

Professor Archon Fung from Harvard University spoke about pragmatic democracy in episode 2.8.

And finally, Associate Professor Sofia Näsström from Uppsala University in Sweden was my guest on episode 2.9 talking about representation and her upcoming book The Spirit of Democracy.

Thank you for joining me today. In the next two episodes of Real Democracy Now! a podcast I’ll taking to a number of people about what isn’t working so well in representative democracy, often referred to as the democratic deficit. I hope you’ll join me then.

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