Obstacles to Renewal

Advanced democracies face major obstacles to renewal, including a lack of consensus about whether change is needed and what is needed. Another obstacle is that mechanisms which create stability also make major reform difficult to achieve.

citizen disengagement, local governance, participatory democracy

What are the Barriers to Local Democratic Renewal?

October 1, 2000

Paul Foley from De Montford University and Steve Martin from the University of Cardiff discuss the potential drawbacks in efforts to involve citizens more in local policymaking and service delivery.

Academic

parliamentary systems

Question Time for Democracy

October 22, 2015

Melanie Sully, Director of the Policy and Research Institute for Go-Governance, sees the questioning of democracy as part of its renewal.

Opinion

constitutional reform

The US Constitution is Impossible to Amend

May 5, 2014

Eric Posner of the University of Chicago discusses the outdated and effectively broken process to change the US Constitution.

Opinion

citizen disengagement, policy failure, special interests, transparency, accountability

Why Not Listen to the People for a Solution to the Reform Stalemate?

February 11, 2015

Former Premier of Western Australia Geoff Gallop suggests democracy is like a long distance runner with a heart condition.

Opinion

democratic decline, institutional reform

Has Dealing with Past Crises made Democracies Over-Confident?

October 1, 2014

Marc Plattner of the National Endowment for Democracy reviews David Runciman's book 'The Confidence Trap'.

Academic

major parties, policy failure

Majority Governments Have Not Solved Major Policy Problems

May 8, 2015

David Runciman reflects in the London Review of Books on the 2015 UK national election result, saying majority governments are not tackling long-term problems.

Opinion

constitutional reform, special interests, major parties

Iceland's Proposals for an Updated Democracy

October 11, 2011

Thorvaldur Gylfason from the University of Iceland outlines how the island nation sought to reshape its Constitution and political system after the GFC.

Opinion