‘The percentage of Americans who say they “can trust the government always or most of the time” has been below 30% since 2007. A similar pattern of mistrust can be found in many democracies across Europe, as well.
‘Young people, in particular, are detaching themselves in droves from active and passive participation in the formal democratic system.
‘In Australia, public trust and satisfaction in democracy has fallen to record lows over the past 10 years, while a Lowy Institute survey last year found that less than half of Australian voters under the age of 44 preferred democracy over other forms of government.
‘As democracy’s popularity decreases, support for alternatives, such as polarised and extreme politics and “strongman” governance, continues to rise.’
- A growing mistrust in democracy is causing extremism and strongman politics to flourish »
- A third of Australians in favour of authoritarian or ‘strongman’ leader, study finds »
- Why the world should be worried about the rise of strongman politics »
- Can democracy survive? »
- Right-wing extremism has a long history in Australia »
- Labor pushes for greater response to extreme rightwing terrorism threat »
- Asio boss warns of rising foreign interference and far-right extremism in Australia »
- How Australia became fertile ground for misinformation and QAnon »
- Hate crime surging in Queensland, right-wing extremism a growing threat »
- Right out there: how the pandemic has given rise to extreme views and fractured conservative politics »
- Vaccine hesitancy is a symptom of people’s broken relationship with the state »
- ‘It’s almost like grooming’: how anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists, and the far-right came together over COVID »
- ‘Occupy Canberra’: behind the anti-vaccine protests at Parliament House »
- There’s no solidarity in ‘sovereign citizen’ protests – only incoherent rage »
- Australian online anti-vaccine groups switch to Putin praise and Ukraine conspiracies »
- Queensland police killings show the threat posed by conspiracy theories – how should police respond? »
- Queensland shooting sparking ‘false flag’ conspiracy theories, experts warn »
- Wieambilla shootings labelled Australia’s first Christian terrorist attack »
- COVID wasn’t a ‘bumper campaign’ for right-wing extremists. But the threat from terror remains »
- Queensland to ban Nazi swastika tattoos as part of crackdown on hate symbols
- Nazi salute will be captured in proposed ban on hate symbols, Queensland government says
- Nazi flags to be banned under new Queensland hate symbol laws. Here’s what else is changing
- Wieambilla shootings: questions remain on monitoring of domestic extremists
A step-by-step guide to reforming our political system
Mark Triffit writes in The Conversation (11.9.18) that, with public trust in government at an all-time low, it’s time we prioritised political reform and put in place a comprehensive roadmap for effective, long-term change.
‘With public trust in government already in serious decline over the last ten years, the downfall of yet another prime minister between elections underlines both the importance and urgency of making serious changes to our political system.
‘The key to renewing Australia’s democratic system is to view it as our next major reform challenge, just as economic renewal was prioritised in the 1980s and ’90s.
‘So far, however, the changes proposed by political commentators, academics and think tanks are largely single reforms, such as citizens’ juries to seek more public input into policy, or fixed four-year terms for federal parliament to allow more time to tackle big problems and implement complex policy.
‘These fall short of matching the scope of the challenge: democratic renewal requires multi-level and multi-step change addressing interconnected issues. In short, we need a comprehensive roadmap for political reform.’
- Reforming our political system is not a quick fix. Here’s a step-by-step guide to how to do it »
- Chart of the day: Voter distrust goes back to at least the 1970s »
- Friday essay: Australia’s dangerous obsession with the Anglosphere »
- How to restore trust in governments and institutions »
- Trust and democracy in Australia: democratic decline and renewal »
- Don’t give up on politics. It’s where the fight for the fair go must be won »
- The far-right may think they own ‘nationalism’, but we can reclaim it as a force for good »
- Australia isn’t taking the national security threat from far-right extremism seriously enough »
- ‘Neglected’ democracy vulnerable to authoritarian rule in era of disinformation, Labor’s Tim Watts says »
- No leader should undermine ‘precious’ democracy, Anthony Albanese warns on eve of US election »
- Why QAnon is attracting so many followers in Australia – and how it can be countered »
- Head of Australia’s extremism inquiry vows to take rising far-right threat seriously »
- To shut down far-right extremism in Australia, we must confront the ecosystem of hate »
- We need to talk about extremism and its links to Christian fundamentalism »
- The state with no hate: Queensland moves to ban Nazi symbols in free speech crackdown
- Why government action to thwart neo-Nazi groups is far more difficult than it appears