UC EVENTS

Please join us for a FAD Research Seminar Series hosted by the N&MRCDate: Monday 17 May 2021Time: 1:30pm-2:30pmLocation: 1A21 & ZoomPresenter Dr Nicole Curato Title ‘Thank you for sharing’: Overcoming Disinformation through Democratic Deliberation Abstract There is a dynamic global community of stakeholders working towards addressing the challenges posed by disinformation, especially during elections. Journalists have launched fact check initiatives. Donors continue to invest in media literacy programmes. Tech platforms like Facebook and Twitter are strengthening their content moderation practices.  These initiatives, while valuable, overlook the voices of ordinary citizens. How do citizens characterise the problem of ‘fake news’ during elections? Do they find disinformation a serious challenge to electoral integrity? Does disinformation offer a greater threat than the longstanding issues of electoral fraud, disenfranchisement, and threats of violence? What can we learn from the collective wisdom of ordinary citizens? To answer these questions, our research team conducted a three-day deliberative forum on disinformation in the Philippines – a country that Facebook considered to be the ‘patient zero’ of the global disinformation epidemic. Twenty-six randomly selected Filipinos from all over the country came together to learn about disinformation.  They deliberated on the dangers created by the spread of ‘fake news,’ answering questions of who should be held accountable for the production of disinformation and who should safeguard social media from its harms. Participants were then asked to generate collective recommendations for stakeholders leading campaigns against disinformation.  Findings of the study reveal that ordinary citizens view disinformation as closely linked to structural issues of the role of money in politics and the precarity of economic labour in a middle-income country’s gig economy.  The presentation concludes by making a call to shift the centre of gravity in scholarship of disinformation. Disinformation studies remain largely shaped by the experiences of the Global North even though many of the disinformation innovations (as well as their remedies) are unfolding in the Global South. The presentation seeks to present an alternative account of disinformation grounded on the lived experiences of disinformation producers and ordinary citizens in disinformation ‘hotspots’ around the world.  Biography Nicole Curato is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. Her work examines how democracy can take root in communities recovering from the trauma of disasters, armed conflict, and urban crime. She is the author of the prize-winning Democracy in a Time of Misery: From Spectacular Tragedy to Deliberative Action (2019, Oxford University Press) and the editor of the Journal of Deliberative Democracy.  

Please join us for our first presentation in the FAD Seminar Series – hosted by the News & Media Research Centre and the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance. Date: Monday 21 March 2022Time: 12:30pm-1:30pmLocation: Online - email nmrc@canberra.edu.au for the link

Abstract:Violent extremism threatens human life and safety. Often overlooked is how violent extremists endanger the public sphere. We develop the concept of ‘democratic resilience’ drawing on the theory of deliberative democracy, and novel empirical research on countering violent extremism (CVE) in Australia, to analyse how public spheres respond to violent extremism. A democratically resilient public sphere is defined by its capacity to sustain integrative and tolerant public discourse when subjected to external shocks. This research furthers our understanding of how violent extremism affects the public sphere, and what matters in promoting a democratically resilient response. Empirically, the research draws on document analysis of CVE policies and programs as well as semi-structured interviews conducted with actors involved in developing and/or implementing them in New South Wales, Australia. Bio: Jordan McSwiney is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. His research focuses on the far right, with a particular interest in the organisation of far-right parties and movements, and their use of social media. His work has been published in Information, Communication & Society, New Media & Society, and Patterns of Prejudice.

Topic:   Can there be a global deliberative democracy?Speaker: Professor Nicole Curato, Political Sociology at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of CanberraDate of Event: Wednesday 12 October Time: 4:30 pm for a 5:00 pm start. Drinks and nibbles will be served from 4:30 pm. Venue: Building 11, Level B, Room 44, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT 2617

New Books in Democracy: The Future of Self-Governing, Thriving DemocraciesThis book offers a new approach for the future of democracy by advocating to give citizens the power to deliberate and to decide how to govern themselves.Innovatively building on and integrating components of representative, deliberative and participatory theories of democracy with empirical findings, the book provides practices and procedures that support communities of all sizes to develop their own visions of democracy. It revitalizes and reinfuses the ‘democratic spirit’ going back to the roots of democracy as an endeavour by, with and for the people, and should inspire us in our search for the democracy we want to live in.In this book launch, Brigitte Geißel will talk to Hans Asenbaum about the book’s backstory, how her thinking about democratic innovations has changed over the years that led her to the book’s core arguments, and where she thinks the field is headed given the persistent challenges to democratic practices around the world.The book is available open access and may be downloaded for free here.This event is co-hosted by the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra and the Democratic Innovations Research Unit at the Goethe University.About the speakerProf. Dr. Brigitte Geißel, Goethe University Frankfurt a.M., is Professor of Political Science/ Political Sociology and Head of the Research Unit ‘Democratic Innovations’. She has received a number of awards for her studies on democracy and democratic innovations , including a Democracy Fellowship from Harvard University‘s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, a Senior Fellowship from the Alfried Krupp Foundation and a Marie-Curie-Fellowship from the European Commission.

The Filter in Our (?) Heads: Digital Media and PolarisationClimate change, Brexit, Trump, COVID, Ukraine: there is hardly a major topic in contemporary public debate online that does not attract heated discussion, entrenched partisanship, widespread misinformation, and conspiracy theorists. Rational, evidence-based contributions often fail to cut through, while affective polarisation is prevalent, and difficult to overcome.The facile, simplistic view of these developments is that digital and social media have disrupted the traditional public sphere, enveloped us all in ideologically homogenous ‘echo chambers’ and ‘filter bubbles’, and thereby ushered in the post-truth age – but such technologically determinist explanations have been rightly debunked for failing to account for the full complexity of the present moment in public communication. Hyperpartisans and conspiracy theorists, for instance, are abundantly aware of what their opponents think and say, but instinctively, reflexively reject those views: if there is a filter, it is located in their (and equally perhaps in our) heads, not their information feeds. Similarly, if global digital media platforms were predominantly to blame for the decline of societal cohesion and consensus, why are countries like the US considerably more deeply affected while other democracies remain considerably more resilient?While these deep divisions are often misdiagnosed as evidence of ‘echo chambers’ and ‘filter bubbles’, then, they actually point to pernicious dysfunction at a discursive level: they are evidence of deeply entrenched polarisation and hyperpartisanship. Yet digital media studies have yet to develop a full repertoire of conceptual and methodological approaches for the analysis and assessment of such phenomena. Such approaches need to be able to distinguish between benign forms of ideological agonism and partisanship and destructive, entrenched polarisation; and they need to recognise diverse ideological, issue-based, interpretive, and affective qualities in polarised discourse. This evidence is critical to enabling an urgently needed, robust defence of our society and democracy against the challenges of polarisation.This seminar will be chaired by Tariq Choucair and is co-hosted by the Centre for Deliberative Democracy & Global Governance and the News & Media Research Centre.About the speakerAxel Bruns is an ARC Laureate Fellow (2021-2026) and Professor at the Digital Media Research Centre at QUT.

Deliberative Democracy for Diabolical TimesDemocracy’s seemingly inexorable advance in the 1990s and 2000s induced many observers to forget that most states and empires throughout history have been inhospitable to democracy. What’s new about our bad times for democracy is that they implicate novel forms of public and political communication in a diabolical soundscape. Minimal standards of truth and integrity are routinely violated by successful elected leaders. Print, radio, and television operations can prosper by enraging niche audiences, moving them to extremes and acting as enablers of demagogues. It is easier than ever before for large numbers of people to express themselves politically, especially on social media, controlled by massive corporations with limited interest in the pathological aspects of the political space that they have inadvertently created. Authoritarian governments manipulate and exploit this space to foster division, sow chaos, bolster extremist candidates, and destabilise liberal democratic states. An overload of political expression makes it increasingly hard for citizens and policymakers alike to detect meaningful signals amidst the lies, noise, and disinformation.As a communication-centric approach, deliberative democracy ought to have plenty to say in response. Given the chance, citizens and publics can indeed avoid manipulation and polarization, reach well-reasoned positions, and join public discourse in deliberative systems that also involve the media, leaders, and activists. Here, a capacity to rethink democracy can begin (though not end) with the deliberative dispositions and practices that all societies already possess to some degree. The dispositions might include the openness that many people already have toward deliberative ideals such as listening carefully to the other side. The practices might include informal networks of political conversations; bridging rhetoric; constructive framing; integrative performances by political leaders; dialogical connections between citizens and politicians; deliberation in social movements and protests; and traditions of holding leaders to account. Innovations might then include crowdsourced judgments and citizen participation to inform algorithms, reflective deliberative spaces online and offline (including mini-publics), and listening practices in social movements. One way of thinking about all this is that it pits the entire contemporary program of deliberative democracy against diabolical developments. Alternatively, specific aspects of the soundscape can be targeted with more precise deliberative responses.This seminar will be chaired by Dr Adele Webb and is co-hosted by the Centre for Deliberative Democracy & Global Governance and the News & Media Research Centre.About the speakerJohn Dryzek was an ARC Laureate Fellow (2014-2020) and Professor at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra.

Future-Proofing the Public Sphere: Axel Bruns in conversation with John DryzekThe world’s most eminent scholars on digital media and deliberative democracy will offer their reflections on each other’s seminars and propose common lines of enquiry between digital media studies and deliberative democracy scholarship.This conversation will be moderated by Prof Selen Ercan and is co-hosted by the Centre for Deliberative Democracy & Global Governance and the News & Media Research Centre.Axel Bruns | 2nd May, The Filter in Our (?) Heads: Digital Media and Polarisation. https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-filter-in-our-heads-digital-media-and-polarisation-tickets-522375879317John Dryzek | 9th May, Deliberative Democracy for Diabolical Times. https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/deliberative-democracy-for-diabolical-times-tickets-522419439607About the speakersAxel Bruns is an ARC Laureate Fellow (2021-2026) and Professor at the Digital Media Research Centre at QUT.John Dryzek was an ARC Laureate Fellow (2014-2020) and Professor at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra.

Evaluating the first Global Assembly on the Climate and Ecological Crisis The Global Assembly on the Climate and Ecological Emergency was a pioneering civil society-led initiative. It was the world’s first citizens’ assembly that brought together 100 randomly selected citizens from around the globe to deliberate on the topic: ‘how can humanity address the climate and ecological crisis in a fair and effective way?’ For 68 hours over 11 weeks, Assembly Members listened to expert evidence, exchanged their views in facilitated small group deliberations and plenary sessions, and developed the People’s Declaration for the Sustainable Future of Planet Earth, first disseminated at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021. The Assembly aimed to set an institutional precedent for bringing the voices of ordinary citizens to multilateral negotiations, a space where they are largely absent. The Evaluation Report examines the extent to which the Global Assembly upheld principles of good practice in the process design, deliberative experience, and impact. In this panel discussion, authors of the Evaluation Report will present their findings on key aspects that were evaluated: demographic diversity; the facilitation process; the range of discourses on climate change invoked during deliberations; issues of power and inequality; and the Global Assembly’s impact on global climate governance. Following these presentations, we will hear reflections from discussant Claire Mellier, one of the members of the Global Assembly’s Central Circle, before opening up for a Q&A discussion. The aim of the seminar is to prompt reflection on the possibilities of designing and implementing a citizens’ assembly at the global scale, and generate actionable insights for future global assemblies. The seminar will be chaired by Adele Webb. About the speakers Nicole Curato is Professor of Political Sociology at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra (Australia). She was the Chair of the Global Governance and Participation Advisory Committee of the Global Assembly and the lead author of this report. Wendy Conway-Lamb is a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra (Australia). Her research explores how those most affected by climate change could be better included in global climate governance. She contributed to the analysis of discourses in breakout group deliberations and the impact of the Global Assembly. Azucena Morán is a research associate at the Research Institute for Sustainability, Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (Germany). Her work explores deliberative and participatory responses to planetary challenges. She led the research on the role of facilitators in the Global Assembly and contributed in the analysis of qualitative data from the perspective of disadvantage and vulnerabilities. Melisa Ross is Postdoctoral Researcher at SOCIUM Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy at the University of Bremen (Germany). She acted as observer during the Global Assembly and contributed to the analysis of qualitative data from the perspective of disadvantage and vulnerabilities. Lucas Veloso is a PhD candidate in Political Science at The Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil). Theorize and research democratic innovations and socio-political vulnerabilities. He was a notetaker in the Global Assembly and contributed to the analysis of qualitative data from the perspective of disadvantage and vulnerabilities. Kari De Pryck is a lecturer at the Institute for environmental sciences at the University of Geneva (Switzerland). She works on global climate governance and scientific knowledge production. She led analysis on the impact of the Global Assembly and contributed to the analysis of discourses in breakout group deliberations. Stephen Elstub is a Reader in British Politics, Newcastle University (UK). He has research interests in participatory and deliberative democracy and the role democratic innovations can play in environmental governance. He led the research on the media coverage of the Global Assembly. Claire Mellier is a facilitator, process designer and researcher with interest in delivering participative processes which put citizens at the heart of decision making. She is knowledge and practice lead at Iswe Foundation. She was a co-initiator and organiser of the Global Assembly on the climate and ecological crisis for COP26.This event is online. Join us on Zoom.

Anti-Anthropocentric Democracy: Devices of Extra-Human Representation and ExpressionLucas Veloso will present the paper 'Anti-Anthropocentric Democracy: Devices of Extra-Human Representation and Expression' co-authored with Ângela Marques, published in 2023 in the Brazilian journal Teoria e Pesquisa. The paper considers practical and institutional possibilities of an 'anti-anthropocentric democracy', characterized by the constant effort to address decision-making biases that threaten extra-human existences. The authors start by examining the proposition's foundations that all sentient biological entities have an inalienable and politically relevant interest in preserving their existence. Based on that, they propose three devices that can promote extra-human representation, expression, and visibility: a) Political and epistemic alliance with non-Western populations, such as indigenous; b) Empowering and dissensual deliberative experiments that foster pragmatic compromises between different cosmologies; c) The use of imagery and audiovisual artifacts to minimize trans-ontological 'incommensurabilities' and increase the possibilities of being affected by radical otherness. This seminar will be chaired by Wendy Conway-Lamb. About the speaker Lucas Veloso is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science in Brazil (PPGCP-UFMG) and member of the research group on democracy and justice Margem. He researches democratic innovations, deliberative democracy, and socio-political vulnerabilities, and takes part in the team that builds Brazil's first citizen assembly on gene editing. His latest publications have addressed the following topics: a) social and political theory and epistemology; b) vulnerabilities in citizen participation and digital democracy; c) climate emergency, technology, and other socio-technical controversies.

This event is hybrid. Join us on Zoom or at Building 24, University of Canberra.The Goals of Climate Change Deliberation: Empathizing with “The Other Side” and/or getting the “Facts Right”?Climate change policies are frequently subject to misperception-generating strategies pursued by actors with vested interests, so correcting misperceptions is a crucial goal of interpersonal deliberation. Although the epistemic benefits of deliberation may be important, there is frequently not one “right” answer to questions about “what should be done” regarding concrete policies and their implementation. This particularly applies to decisions about highly complex and contentious political issues (see Dryzek 1990; Fleuss 2021). Climate change policies are a perfect example where developing constructive action-guiding strategies in interpersonal deliberation are not solely dependent on people’s capacities to “get the facts right”. Against this backdrop, another account of “the ends of deliberation” bears promise for understanding the constructive potential of climate change citizens assemblies: it features 1) the crucial role of increasing participants’ reflectiveness (Dryzek & Niemeyer, 2008), and 2) of developing a mutual understanding for the values, interests, preferences of “the other side” (also see Fleuss 2023; Habermas 1984; Muradova 2021). While previous research indicates that deliberation has the potential to achieve both goals, (i.e., to improve the accuracy of judgments and participants’ reflectiveness), it also suggests that there may be a trade-off between gaining more knowledge and improving reflectiveness (e.g., Muradova 2021; Suiter & Reidy 2020: Suiter et al. 2020).So far there is, however, no systematic assessment exploring the relationship between peoples’ reflectiveness and the accuracy of their judgements that may result from interpersonal deliberation about climate change. Against this backdrop, we (a) develop a conceptual account and corresponding measurement for “reflectiveness”. Based on this, we (b) explore how deliberation about climate change affects the accuracy of people’s judgements and their reflectiveness in deliberation about environmentally responsible climate change policies – and the relationship between both “ends” or “effects” of deliberation to each other. Answering these questions also bears promising political-practical potentials: If there is, for example, a significant trade-off between “improved accuracy” and “improved reflectiveness”, this also provides an empirically grounded point of departure for rethinking the goals and the design of deliberative processes which aim at contributing to more consequential democratic action on climate change policies.This paper is co-authored by Jane Suiter from Dublin City University.This seminar will be chaired by Simon Niemeyer.

This event is hybrid. Join us on Zoom or at Building 24, University of Canberra.Unpacking power in democratic innovations: A systematic review of how power is shared in Australian local governmentsMy work-in-progress seminar aims to theorise and conceptualise deliberative power-sharing in democratic innovations in Australian local governments. I also aim to advance the current theoretical constructions of the sharing of power and how these can be operationalised in this context. For over 20 years, Australian local governments have trialled democratic innovations to increase trust and legitimacy in political decisions. These experiments, however, receive various criticisms from scholars and practitioners in the field of deliberative democracy. Some criticise them for lacking binding decision-making power, while others question the feasibility of persuading politicians to share their power with community members.In this seminar presentation, I argue that we need a nuanced understanding of how Australian local governments share power with community members through democratic innovations. I build this argument in two parts. First, I make the case of understanding power by combining Rainer Forst’s concept of noumenal power and Mary Parker Follett’s concept of power-with. Second, I present the findings of my systematic review of how power is shared in democratic innovations in 34 Australian local governments catalogued in the Participedia database. In this review, I found that there are four ways of sharing power between Australian local governments and community members: (1) Deliberative power-sharing, (2) the sharing of power with deliberation, (3) power-sharing with deliberative elements, and (4) deliberation with limited to no sharing of power. I conclude my presentation by charting the next phases of my dissertation and introducing preliminary reflections on how these research findings speak to my ongoing fieldwork.This seminar will be chaired by Nicole Curato.Discussants: Dr Nivek Thompson, Associate, Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance and Kyle Redman, newDemocracy Foundation

This event is hybrid. Join us on Zoom or at Building 24, University of Canberra.Deliberative Democratic Constitutional ReferendumsReferendums are often associated with theories of democracy in contrast to deliberative democracy. Deliberative democratic theorists have argued that referendums reflect an aggregative understanding of democracy, in which outcomes reflect and merely aggregate voters’ pre-formed opinions.  Some of these theorists also note that referendums are susceptible to populist manipulation whereby democratic-seeming procedures such as referendums are conscripted—in contexts that lack a thriving public sphere—to achieve authoritarian ends.  I will argue against this tendency to associate referendums with aggregative and populist approaches to democracy.  I offer instead a deliberative constitutionalist theory of referendums and I will illustrate this argument by drawing on the Canadian experience.This seminar will be chaired by Adele Webb.

6 February 2024Juliet Room, Verity Lane Market, Sydney Building, 50 Northbourne Avenue, Canberra ACTReception: 5:30Panel discussion: 6:00 – 7:15 pmDemocracies’ responses to environmental crises, health emergencies, and racial violence have been unsatisfactory, to say the least. Hyper-partisan politics have taken over our representative democracies, rendering our democratic institutions vulnerable to political deadlocks and cheap political point-scoring.While there are many reasons to lose trust in our democracy, there are also many reasons to fight for it. You are invited to join a conversation on how we can transform Australia’s democracy and chart pathways for systemic change.Our discussion will kick off with three international speakers who will share lessons from democratic innovations that have taken off all over the world and demonstrate how randomly selected citizen bodies, decolonising and anti-racist action, and listening to nature and nonhumans can transform democracies today. This will be followed by an open discussion, where audiences can propose their own ideas for democratic transformation.Registration is required. Please register through this link or click 'register' below.SpeakersHans Asenbaum is the author of The Politics of Becoming: Anonymity and Democracy in the Digital Age. He is senior research fellow at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy & Global Governance at the University of Canberra.Kyle Redman is the Director of Design and Research at The newDemocracy Foundation, a non-profit research foundation whose work focuses on the use of democratic lotteries and deliberation in Australia and overseas. He is also an Executive Board Member of the Federation for Innovation in Democracy – Europe, and a member of Australia’s Open Government Forum.Melissa Williams is the founding director of the University of Toronto’s Centre for Ethics. She is the author and editor of numerous books, including Voice, Trust, and Memory: Marginalized Groups and the Failings of Liberal Representation.This event launches the new blog series on Democratic Transformations led by the Centre for Deliberative Democracy & Global Governance and the European Consortium for Political Research. Read the blog here.

This event is hybrid. Join us on Zoom or at Building 24, University of Canberra.How can deliberative democracy listen to nonhumans?The seminar series for 2024 has been designed to address 10 big questions facing deliberative democracy, both in practice and as a scholarly field. This launch seminar on 20 February addresses the question: How can deliberative democracy listen to nonhumans?This seminar will be chaired by Hans Asenbaum.About the speakersDanielle Celermajer is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney, and the Deputy Director of the Sydney Environment Institute. Her expertise lie in human rights, theories and practices of justice and the intersection between human, environmental and animal justice and ethics.Frederic Hanusch is co-founder and scientific manager of the “Panel on Planetary Thinking” at Justus Liebig University Giessen, Fellow at THE NEW INSTITUTE in Hamburg, and co-convener of the Earth System Governance Project’s Working Group on Democracy. Frederic recently published "The Politics of Deep Time“ with Cambridge University Press, which explores how planetary temporalities can be politically institutionalized. Currently, he is working on "The Planetary Condition".Seminar Convener: Adele WebbOnline floor manager: Ferdinand SanchezAll Centre seminars are recorded. To access the recording of our seminar series and other events, visit our YouTube channel.

This event is hybrid. Join us on Zoom or at Building 24, University of Canberra.Can deliberative democracy take root in settler colonial states?Can deliberation have a decolonial future? How can theorists and practitioners of deliberative democracy challenge entrenched paternalist attitudes towards Indigenous people and institutional non-listening? You are invited to join a conversation with Dr Justin McCaul of the Australian National University and Dr Emily Beausoleil of Victoria University of Wellington / Te Herenga WakaThis event is part 2 of a 10-part seminar series on 10 Big Questions on Deliberative Democracy.This seminar will be chaired by Adele Webb.About the speakersJustin McCaul is a descendent of the Mbarbarum Traditional Owners of far north Queensland. He is a Research Associate at the College of Law, ANU. Before pursuing an academic career, he worked for more than 20 years in Indigenous policy for several non-government organisations including Oxfam Australia. His recently completed PhD examined Indigenous rights, Australia’s native title system, and deliberative democracy.Emily Beausoleil is a Senior Lecturer of Politics at Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University and Editor-in-Chief of Democratic Theory. She is an Associate Investigator on the ARC grant ‘Democratic Resilience: The Public Sphere and Extremist Attacks’ held at U Canberra and Research Associate of He Whenua Taurikura-Centre for Research Excellence on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism. Her first book, Staging Democracy: The Political Work of Live Performance (De Gruyter) launched a new book series (Critical Thinking and Contemporary Politics) in 2023.Seminar Convener: Adele WebbOnline floor manager: Ferdinand SanchezAll Centre seminars are recorded. To access the recording of our seminar series and other events, visit our YouTube channel.To subscribe to our mailing list, email Ferdinand.Sanchez@canberra.edu.au

Are deliberative mini-publics enough to promote deliberative democracy?For Prof Simone Chambers (University of California Irvine), deliberative mini-publics can be most effective when they serve as opinion leaders and mobilizers in partisan debates within the voting public. Meanwhile, Prof Hélène Landemore (Yale University) argues that self-governed deliberative mini-publics need to be articulated to mass democracy via referenda, citizens' initiative, or right to referral, and serve as generalist, agenda-setting bodies with some legislative powers on their own. What role do mini-publics play in promoting deliberative democracy? What kind of power and influence should they have?You are invited to join this conversation on 8 Apr (US) / 9 Apr 2024 (Australia).This seminar will be chaired by Prof John Dryzek.This event is part 3 of a 10-part seminar series on 10 Big Questions on Deliberative Democracy convened by Dr Adele Webb.This event is online only. Join us on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7220752429 About the speakersSimone Chambers is Professor and Chair of Political Science at the University of California Irvine.  She has written and published on deliberative democracy, referendums, constitutional politics, the public sphere, secularism, rhetoric, civility, digital misinformation and the work of Jürgen Habermas and John Rawls. She has recently published Contemporary Democratic Theory (2023) with Polity Press.Hélène Landemore is Professor of Political Science at Yale University and a Faculty Fellow with Yale’s Institute for Social and Policy Studies, where she leads a research agenda on Citizens' Assemblies. In 2022-23, she was part of the governance committee of the second French Citizens' Assembly, the Convention on End-of-Life Issues.ModeratorJohn Dryzek is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and founder of the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra.Seminar Convener: Adele WebbOnline floor manager: Ferdinand SanchezAll Centre seminars are recorded. To access the recording of our seminar series and other events, visit our YouTube channel. 

This event is online only. Join us on Zoom.For Daniel Kübler, the role of citizen competence in democracy is a controversial issue. Empirical studies find that citizen incompetence is astonishingly widespread but crucially depends on elite cues in public debates related to decision-making processes.  A realistic approach thus needs to acknowledge the context in which citizen participation and deliberation take place and understand how this context fosters (or does not foster) citizen competence.Meanwhile, for Simon Niemeyer, the longstanding debate concerning everyday citizen competence draws on outdated models of individual rationality applied to a problematic democratic stage. If we instead understand human deliberative capabilities as evolved in dynamic group settings a dramatically different picture emerges — one that exposes deep injustice, in terms how we understand citizen competence and how that failure in many democratic traditions has served to undermine it.Join the conversation on the competence of everyday citizens as deliberators with Simon Niemeyer and Daniel Kübler moderated by Lucy J Parry.This event is part 5 of a 10-part seminar series on 10 Big Questions on Deliberative Democracy convened by Dr Adele Webb. SpeakersSimon Niemeyer is a Professor and co-founder of the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. His research in deliberative democracy includes conceptualising the nature of deliberative reason and understanding the conditions that support it. Daniel Kübler is a Professor of Political Science and co-directs the Center for Democracy Studies at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. His research focuses, among others, on citizens’ opinion formation in direct democratic voting, as well as on participation in citizen assemblies.ModeratorLucy J Parry is a Research Associate at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance. Seminar Convener: Adele WebbOnline floor manager: Ferdinand SanchezAll Centre seminars are recorded. To access the recording of our seminar series and other events, visit our YouTube channel.

This event is hybrid. Join us on Zoom or at Building 24, University of Canberra.How should deliberative democracy respond to extremism?Far-right extremism threatens democracy by spreading exclusionary and anti-democratic ideals, such as white supremacy. How can deliberative democracy help us understand the roles of the media and political leaders in responding to the harms caused by extremist actors? What pragmatic solutions can deliberative processes offer, especially in countering extremism's personal and emotional appeals? You are invited to join this conversation featuring Dr Jordan McSwiney (University of Canberra) and Prof John Gastil (Penn State University). This seminar will be chaired by Prof Selen Ercan. This event is part 6 of a 10-part seminar series on 10 Big Questions on Deliberative Democracy convened by Dr Adele Webb. About the speakersJordan McSwiney is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. He researches the far right, with a focus on the organisation and communication of far-right parties and movements. He is the author of Far-Right Political Parties in Australia: Disorganisation and Electoral Failure (Routledge). John Gastil is a Professor at Penn State University. He has studied political psychology and democratic innovations for thirty years, and some of the reforms he has proposed became law. He received major funding to study attitude formation and how people revise their beliefs when invited into more deliberative political institutions and experiences. ModeratorSelen Ercan is the Director of the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. Seminar Convener: Adele WebbOnline floor manager: Ferdinand SanchezAll Centre seminars are recorded. To access the recording of our seminar series and other events, visit our YouTube channel.

Hosted by CDDGG, University of CanberraDate and time: Tue 2nd Jul 2024, 5:30 pm - 7:15 pm AESTRegister here: https://events.humanitix.com/book-launch-democracy-versus-diablo-in-the-usa-and-australiaYou are invited to a participatory book launch for André Bächtiger and John S. Dryzek, Deliberative Democracy for Diabolical Times: Confronting Populism, Extremism, Denial, and Authoritarianism.You will hear from one of the book’s authors (John Dryzek) as well as special guests Professor John Gastil from Pennsylvania State University and Associate Professor Caroline Fischer of the News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra.You will get an opportunity to discuss their points and deliberate your own ideas about the challenges facing democracy in Australia and the USA, and how best to confront them. There will also be a chance to meet and talk more informally.This book launch will be moderated by Keith Greaves from MosaicLab. 

This event is hybrid. Join us on Zoom or at Building 24, University of Canberra.How should deliberative democracy respond to extremism?Can deliberative democracy challenge macho populism? For Hans Asenbaum, the field of deliberative democracy may have come a long way in recognising female marginalisation, but it has so far neglected cisgender, heterosexual, masculinities. Only when deliberative democracy recognises such hegemonic identities can it challenge the heterosexist domination underpinning macho populism.María Esperanza Casullo has a different take. For her, deliberative democracy can challenge macho populism by upholding the value of the most basic of human activities: talking. Macho populism seeks to define the simple act of talking as unproductive, decadent, in sum, feminine. It has a clear preference for supposedly masculine performances of aggression. Therefore, the act of deliberation itself has the potential to become the grounds for resistance. Join the conversation with Hans Asenbaum and María Esperanza Casullo, moderated by Jordan McSwiney. This event is part 7 of a 10-part seminar series on 10 Big Questions on Deliberative Democracy convened by Dr Adele Webb. About the speakersHans Asenbaum is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. His research interests include radical democracy, queer and gender studies, digital politics, and participatory research methods. Hans is the author of The Politics of Becoming: Anonymity and Democracy in the Digital Age (Oxford University Press, 2023). The book draws on queer theory to make sense of identity transformation in democracy. His work has been published in the American Political Science Review, Politics & Gender, and the Journal of Gender Studies.María Esperanza Casullo is an Associate Professor at the National University of Rio Negro and a researcher at CONICET in Argentina. She obtained a PhD in political theory from Georgetown University. She has published extensively on democratic theory and populism. Her last published paper is "The populist body in the age of social media: A comparative study of populist and non-populist representation" in Thesis Eleven, in co-authorship with Rodolfo Colalongo. ModeratorJordan McSwiney is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra.Seminar Convener: Adele WebbOnline floor manager: Ferdinand SanchezAll Centre seminars are recorded. To access the recording of our seminar series and other events, visit our YouTube channel.

AI is becoming an ever-present force in our lives, shaping how we access information, engage in discussions, and even participate in democracy. New AI tools make democratic participation more accessible through AI facilitation and live translation. But it may also undermine democracy by inhibit critical thinking skills or eroding public trust through deepfakes. This seminar brings together leading international academics and practitioners to discuss which AI tools can enhance democracy, how AI can be democratically governed and how our identities reshaped through the everyday use of AI. Join us for a dynamic exchange of ideas on the promises and challenges of AI in shaping the democracies of tomorrow.Reema Patel directs Elgon Social, as an independent researcher and practitioner with expertise in deliberative and participatory approaches. She currently works on the Digital Good Network, Public Voices in AI, and the Global Climate Citizens Assembly led by Iswe Foundation. She is also an EDI associate to the Wellcome Trust, advising them on the development and implementation of their equity framework. Dr James Muldoon is an Associate Professor in Management at the Essex Business School, a Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute and Head of Digital Research at the Autonomy think tank. His research examines how modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital platforms can create public value and serve the common good. It explores how notions of freedom, power and democracy need to be rethought in a digital age and what we can do to harness the positive potential of new technology.The seminar will be moderated by Dr Hans Asenbaum, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, Faculty of Business, Government and Law, University of Canberra.

Effective community engagement starts with the right tools and approaches—and deliberation offers both. The Deliberative Democracy in Action Masterclasses offer a hands-on introduction to the principles and tools of deliberative engagement—an evidence-based approach that leads to more inclusive, constructive, and legitimate outcomes.Whether you're designing consultations, facilitating conversations, or shaping policy, these masterclasses will equip you with practical strategies to engage communities in ways that build trust and deliver impact. Through these sessions, you'll learn how to:Improve the quality of public engagement by creating spaces where participants feel heard, respected, and empowered to contribute.Broaden the reach of public engagement by designing inclusive processes that engage people from all walks of life—not just the usual voices.Balance diverse perspectives by exploring the trade-offs between competing values and interests.Bridge divisions and disagreements through meaningful dialogue and active listening.Drawing from real-world examples in Australia and around the world, the sessions explore fresh, practical approaches to deliberative engagement.Hosted by the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance — a world leader in the study of public participation — this series brings together expert thinkers and practitioners who are helping to reshape democracy for the better. You’ll also have the chance to connect with some of Australia’s leading experts in deliberative engagement and become part of our growing network of practitioners working to make public engagement more meaningful and effective. Wednesday 14 May: RepresentationExplores how democratic ideals such as inclusion and participation are realised in deliberative process. This includes how experts are involved in processes and examines strategies to enhance representation in various contexts such as where there are inherent power inequities.  Participants will master:The different ways to consider representation in deliberative processes and how to design processes that include varied perspectives.An understanding of how inequalities impact deliberation and tools for addressing disparities.How to consider the perspectives of those that cannot participate such as future generations or non-humans.How to design methods that effectively engage experts and apply their knowledge to the deliberative process.Guest speakers – to be announced soon! Thursday 15 May: ImpactExplores how deliberative practices are connected to the wider institutional and political contexts, and the democratic system overall.  This includes an examination of the consequentiality of practices and factors that affect their impact.Participants will master:An understanding of how democratic innovations can be effectively positioned within a policy-making context, systems of governance and existing public participation approaches.An ability to identify varied pathways for impact and how to strategically design deliberative processes that achieve this impact.An understanding of the determinants that influence the legitimacy conferred on deliberative processes, and strategies for how to strengthen legitimacy.Guest speakers – to be announced soon!Friday 16 May: ResilienceExplores how deliberative practices can contribute to building democratic resilience. It will consider deliberation in contexts where there are entrenched special interests, deep power inequalities, or divergent views on possible solutions to complex issues.  This masterclass builds an understanding of both the opportunities and limitations for deliberation to break impasses and generate more broadly accepted policy outputs.   Participants will master:A critical understanding of how deliberation can mitigate extremist threats in contexts where there is deep polarisation, mistrust or disinformation.An ability to design processes that appropriately consider relevant social movement actors and stakeholders.A toolkit of deliberative approaches and design choices that can mitigate division and entrenched views.Guest speakers – to be announced soon!RegistrationParticipants can enrol in each masterclass separately if they are only interested in one or two topics. Alternatively, the masterclasses will run on three consecutive days allowing participants to enrol in all three as an intensive. $385 (incl. GST) per day$990 (incl. GST)  for all three masterclasses Register for:Representation (single day) - Register hereImpact (single day) - Register hereResilience (single day) - Register hereAll three masterclasses - Register hereRegistration includes morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. CertificateParticipants will be provided a participation certificate from the Centre of Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance.

As Australian democracy grapples with a growing crisis of representation, it is time to ask: who is seen, who is heard, and who remains invisible? How can our political system foster inclusion, equity, and legitimacy—not only in parliament, but across the broader public sphere? This event explores how Australia's democratic institutions can better reflect the voices of its culturally, linguistically, and religiously diverse communities. This conversation brings together academics and practitioners to share insights, experiences, and strategies for strengthening political representation in Australia.Joining us will be Ilo Diaz (Centre Against Racial Profiling), David Nolan (News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra), and Emily Foley (Centre for Deliberative Democracy, University of Canberra and Flinders University).Moderated by Professor Chris Wallace.

As democracies face multiple threats, from deepening polarisation and rising extremism to the spread of mis- and disinformation, the concept of democratic resilience has gained renewed urgency. Yet questions remain: What does democratic resilience truly entail? And how can it support broader efforts to renew democracy in the face of these challenges?This conference aims to deepen and expand the conversation around democratic resilience by bringing together an international community of scholars and practitioners. We invite contributions that explore innovative theoretical and empirical approaches as well as effective practical strategies for confronting the critical challenges facing democracies today. Topics of interest include--but are not limited to--declining trust in democratic institutions, the resurgence of far-right and anti-democratic actors, various forms of polarisation, violent extremism, and the role of political institutions, democratic innovations, civil society, social movements, and grassroots initiatives in advancing a more resilient democracy.We welcome theoretical, empirical, and practice-oriented papers that engage critically with the concepts of democratic resilience and democratic renewal, including how these are assessed and implemented across diverse contexts. Submissions should clearly identify the specific threat or challenge being addressed and demonstrate how the work contributes to current scholarship and debates on democratic resilience and/or innovation.Please submit an abstract of up to 200 words, along with a short author bio of up to 200 words by 8 August 2025 to Dr Emily Foley (emily.foley@canberra.edu.au).Successful applicants will be notified by 22 August 2025.