Can democracy be mended?

Politics and policymaking can feel very distant from people’s everyday lives, and that disconnection can make individuals and communities feel powerless. So how are people helping to bridge this chasm and put the personal back into policy?

From the community push to get an independent elected in the Victorian seat of Indi, to the knitting nannas of northern New South Wales challenging coal seam gas, citizens are finding new ways of connecting community to policy challenges. Are there lessons in these cases that could be scaled up and rolled out for other communities, and to tackle other challenges? Joining Professor Mark Kenny and regular podleague Dr Marija Taflaga are two of the authors of the new book Mending Democracy, Associate Professor Carolyn Hendriks and Dr Selen Ercan.

Carolyn Hendriks is Associate Professor of Public Policy and Governance at Crawford School of Public Policy.

Selen Ercan is Associate Professor at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at University of Canberra.

Marija Taflaga is Director of ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a lecturer in the ANU School of Politics and International Relations. Her major research is on political parties and particularly the Liberal Party of Australia.

Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.

This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.