Renewing Democracy
The future of democracy, governance and citizen engagement in a hyperconnected world
How should we respond to the rising threats to liberal democratic traditions around the world? What are the implications of rising populism, illiberalism, and disillusionment for the ways in which we approach domestic and international governance? Can and should constitutional institutions withstand the onslaught of populism (and authoritarianism more broadly)? Our research explores these questions through a range of projects on topics such as understanding the global democratic recession, elections and regime change, women in politics, and the role of independent institutions such as journalism and the public service in maintaining a healthy liberal democracy.
We also think about the possibility of renewing democracy more broadly and critically through a focus on the increasing attention to alternative forms of engagement in politics and policy, and new forms of individual and community organisation. What are the implications of these developments for how we think about democracy? How can the deeper exchange of information and ideas contribute to more effective democratic governance and better cross-cultural communication? We explore the roles of citizens, deliberation and engagement in public life, and welcome opportunities to develop future research projects on these and other exciting questions and challenges.
'Renewing Democracy’ is spearheaded by Deputy Director, Associate Professor Tom Daly.
Watch Tom’s speech ‘From Global Democratic Decay to Democratic Renewal?’, delivered at the Parliament of Victoria, 14 November.
A range of innovative and inter-linked projects and activities are carried out under the ‘Renewing Democracy’ research theme, including development of online resources, events, teaching, engagement activities, and flagship political programs.
Democratic Decay & Renewal (DEM-DEC)
Created by Dr Tom Daly and supported by a range of leading academic and policy organisations worldwide, Democratic Decay & Renewal (DEM-DEC) is a global online resource aiming to provide useful information on the deterioration and re-thinking of democratic rule worldwide through a mixture of curated, collaborative, and user-generated content including research, experts, events and resources databases, a concept index, teaching materials, and campaigns.
DEM-DEC’s core purpose is to bring scholars and policymakers together in a collaborative project to pool expertise on democratic decay and democratic renewal, in a context where many experts are talking in silos, or past one another, where the literature is rapidly expanding, and events and projects are proliferating across the world. It has been used by thousands of researchers and analysts in over 1430 states worldwide.
Access the monthly global research updates here.
Events
Events are regularly organised under the ‘Renewing Democracy’ theme, with a strong focus on public-facing events.
Recent events include:
A seminar ‘Is the future of Indian Democracy secure?’, 12 March 2020, with panellists discussing recent developments that have cast doubts on the health of the world’s biggest democracy. Read more here.
The Fraser Oration by Lord Patten: On 6 November 2019 we hosted the Rt Hon Lord Chris Patten to deliver the Fraser Oration on ‘Political Leadership’, as well as a lunchtime seminar on the topic 'Rules-based International Order: What’s Next?'. Watch a video of the Oration here.
Forthcoming events include:
An International Symposium on the theme, ‘Democracy 2020: Assessing Constitutional Decay, Breakdown and Renewal Worldwide’ on 10-11 December 2020. It will be co-organised in partnership with the Melbourne School of Government, Melbourne Law School, the Laureate Program in Comparative Constitutional Law, the IACL-AIDC Blog, and Democratic Decay & Renewal (DEM-DEC). Read more here.
Teaching
Teaching on the Master of Public Administration (MPA) has been enhanced through the addition of a new elective subject under the ‘Renewing Democracy’ theme.
The subject ‘Democracy, Power, and the Public Service’ (PADM90019) aims to assist public sector professionals to reflect on the importance of an independent public service to a healthy liberal democracy. This is a pathbreaking subject, bringing together information from a wide variety of academic disciplines and policy areas, including a range of emerging research and thinking regarding this topic. The elective will be delivered for the first time in Semester 1 2020.
This elective will further inform our events and engagement activities.
Read more here.
Engagement
The School of Government places priority on engagement activities as part of the ‘Renewing Democracy’ theme.
Recent activities have included:
Expert involvement in the federal Senate Inquiry into Australian democracy: On 7 February 2020 Deputy Director Tom Daly and Principal Fellow Nick Reece attended as invited experts at a roundtable convened for the federal Senate Inquiry into nationhood, national identity, and democracy (read their submissions - Nos. 59 and 95). Access the public hearing transcript.
Ongoing activities include Deputy Director Tom Daly’s membership of the International Coalition for Democratic Renewal (ICDR), which is a global initiative of a group of Nobel laureates, intellectuals, activists, and politicians, concerned with the expansion of power and influence of authoritarian regimes and the simultaneous weakening of democratic systems from within. Read more.
Pathways to Politics Program for Women
Established in 2016, the Pathways to Politics Program for Women is designed to redress the continued underrepresentation of women in Australian politics. The program focuses on providing women from across the political spectrum with the training, support and networks they need to ascend in the electoral process at local, state and federal levels.
Find out more.
McKinnon Prize in Political Leadership
The McKinnon Prize in Political Leadership aims to recognise political leaders who have driven positive change and encouraged a national discussion about the role of leadership.
The 2019 winners of the prize were the Hon. Gladys Berejiklian, Premier of New South Wales and The Rt. Hon. Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp.
Find out more.
This page contains information on a number of past projects conducted under the ‘Renewing Democracy’ theme.
Youth perceptions and diplomatic relations: improving Australia-Indonesia relations through education
Project summary:
This project explores the perceptions of Indonesia held by young Australians (aged 18-34 years). It is motivated by survey research suggesting that nearly 50% of Australians have unfavourable views of Indonesia, and that levels of misperceptions and ignorance about Indonesia are high. This project aims to gather qualitative data to extend this survey research, by exploring whether and how education about Indonesia shapes young Australians’ perceptions of the country. More broadly, the project explores how young people engage in debate about comparative democracies and governance in different cultural contexts. This project is funded by a grant from the Australia-Indonesia Centre.
Chief Investigator - Dr Avery Poole
Aims of the project:
This project seeks to gain an understanding of how young people see Indonesia, and how and why their perceptions of Indonesia may evolve over time. It asks: What role does tertiary education play in shaping the perceptions of Indonesia among young Australians (aged 18-34 years)? It focuses on university students who are enrolled in Indonesian studies subjects and/or otherwise engaged with Indonesia. The research findings will have implications for the approach of universities to Indonesian studies (e.g. degree and subject offerings, and curriculum design), and more broadly, for public policy approaches to Indonesia in Australia. In the future the project will be expanded to explore the engagement of young Australians with a range of countries in the Indo-Pacific region, and will thus contribute to our understanding of how young people view international affairs, the meaning of democracy and citizen engagement in debates about Australia’s place in the region and the world.
Democracy and human rights in Southeast Asia
Project summary:
Southeast Asia is a vast, highly populated and incredibly diverse region. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) aims to provide regional order and a basis for economic and security cooperation. It promotes democracy and human rights as central to this order. However, most ASEAN members are not democratic and have poor or questionable human rights records. Traditionally, ASEAN has treated democracy and human rights as ‘sensitive issues’ to be omitted from regional dialogue. So why does ASEAN now routinely refer to democracy and human rights as foundational regional principles? And why has it institutionalised these principles in initiatives such as the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights? This project explores the problem of why and how elites in a regional institutional context construct a particular rhetoric around democracy and human rights. It explores this rhetoric in the context of the objectives of ASEAN regionalism and the domestic political contexts of individual member states.
Chief Investigator - Dr Avery Poole
Aims of the project:
This project traces the processes through which the ten ASEAN member countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) agreed to promote the ‘liberal norms’ of democracy and human rights. These norms have now become standard references in ASEAN rhetoric. The leaders of these ten countries are particularly concerned about the way ASEAN is perceived by the outside world. Some countries, such as Indonesia and Singapore, seek to project the image of being liberal democracies and ‘good global citizens’ – and they want ASEAN, as a regional organisation which represents them – to embody this image.
The project investigates the ways in which regional norms are shaped by competing perceptions of legitimacy. Legitimacy refers here to the social judgments of an entity as appropriate, proper or desirable, within a particular institutional environment. In particular, ASEAN rhetoric is shaped by elites’ perceptions of how those outside the region (including states and interstate organisations) view the legitimacy of the regional organisation and its norms.
Security and political engagement
This theme addresses three key questions:
- How are risks created and perceived by individuals, groups and governments involved in the policy process?
- How do these impact on feelings of insecurity of the person, the group and of the State?
- What role might existing or new forms of social and political engagement at local, national and multinational levels play in enhancing security?
Research Projects:
- A Review of Australia's Capacity for engagement in International conflict resolution including through Mediation
- Towards a Melbourne (University) Intergenerational Report
- Governing resource conflict in Bougainville
- Transnational influence on national resource governance
- The problems of campaign finance regulation