“What do you reckon?” is a blog about opportunities to apply democratic lottery, deliberative democracy and participatory democracy in Australia.
The focus is on new or nascent existing ideas for projects and initiatives, whether pursued from within or outside existing institutions, that reflect the:
Potential for democratic lottery, deliberation and participation to improve policy outcomes through improving the integrity of policy-making processes at all levels of government
Their intrinsic value as sources of connection to community and civic identity
I’d be thrilled if any of the ideas here were picked up by folks reading this blog, whether they be from civil society, government or otherwise in a position to implement something. While they’re focused on the Australian context, I’d hope that many of the ideas could be relevant to international contexts too.
Some quick caveats:
I’m not writing on behalf of any organisation or individual; views expressed here are my own.
I commit to doing my homework and basing what I’m writing on facts and evidence as far as possible but I certainly don’t claim that these ideas have been developed through a rigorous academic research process.
I tried to dedicate much of my graduate study experience to learning more about the fields of deliberative and participatory democracy, but I always have so much to learn.
Finally, feedback and questions are very welcome and encouraged, wherever you are on our journey towards deliberative/participatory/democratically innovative conversion ;)
Not everything will be a new idea - sometimes I’ll just be promoting others’ ideas; I hope to do them justice and I plan to be very explicit about this.
