Category Archives: Democracy

PETER DEMPSTER: A strategic voting proposal in defence of centrism

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Nicholas Gruen

Well folks, as you know, Club Troppo is the only website east of the whole damn Murray Darling system that has the reputation to attract the kind of high quality debate we’re in for tonight. So everyone, in your best ClupPony … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Media, Political theory, Politics - international, Politics - national | 19 Comments

PATRICIA EDGAR. The Circus that has been Government Policy on the ABC for Forty Years

Posted on June 28, 2018 by Nicholas Gruen

Cross-posted from John Menadue’s Pearls and Irritations. The ABC has been an extraordinarily resilient organisation. It has withstood management and Board upheavals, survived remorseless budget cuts and harassment. But the current attacks on staff and on its role are as … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Critique, Democracy, Films and TV, History, Information, IT and Internet, Journalism, Media | 2 Comments

Democracy and inequality

Posted on June 27, 2018 by Nicholas Gruen

I was a little crestfallen when, after my public lecture on democracy and sortition at King’s College London was filmed with a few to producing a video and the contractors informed us that the recording was hopelessly corrupted. So I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Economics and public policy, Education, Ethics, Sortition and citizens’ juries | Comments Off on Democracy and inequality

The unbearable thinness of modern politics

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Nicholas Gruen

There’s been a great thinning out of our political culture. Once built up from the life-world with hundreds of thousands determining party policy feeding up from branches to politicians – though leaders obviously had quite a lot of power, particularly … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Critique, Democracy, Politics - national | 5 Comments

Citizens’ juries as activism: holding political elites to their constitutional role

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Nicholas Gruen

For some time now we’ve been ‘proving up’ citizens’ juries as a means of consulting the people, but generally within the context of governments being in charge. As a result they’ve been mostly relatively innocuous. For instance the first two in … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Political theory, Politics - international, Sortition and citizens’ juries | 17 Comments

Brexit Scenarios and some Advice for Brexiteers

Posted on March 2, 2018 by Paul Frijters

Brexit is the main political issue in the UK, competing with sex for the attention of the public. It is a daily gamble whether the news headline is about some politician fondling a knee 55 years ago or a row … Continue reading →

Posted in bubble, Cultural Critique, Democracy, Geeky Musings, Humour, Political theory, Politics - international, Social, Society | 11 Comments

Our countries need us.

Posted on February 24, 2018 by Paul Frijters

Humanity is at a high point. What our ancestors dreamed of is slowly becoming a reality: a world without hunger in which the vast majority of mankind live peaceful and long lives. We are not there yet, but in Europe, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Critique, Democracy, Economics and public policy, Education, Ethics, History, Inequality, Information, Life, Literature, Philosophy, Political theory, Politics - international, Politics - national, Religion, Science, Social Policy, Society | 10 Comments