The Australian Citizens’ Parliament and the Future of Deliberative Democracy

The Australian Citizens’ Parliament and the Future of Deliberative Democracy
Author: Lyn Carson
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 492
Release: 2015-06-29
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0271069074

Growing numbers of scholars, practitioners, politicians, and citizens recognize the value of deliberative civic engagement processes that enable citizens and governments to come together in public spaces and engage in constructive dialogue, informed discussion, and decisive deliberation. This book seeks to fill a gap in empirical studies in deliberative democracy by studying the assembly of the Australian Citizens’ Parliament (ACP), which took place in Canberra on February 6–8, 2009. The ACP addressed the question “How can the Australian political system be strengthened to serve us better?” The ACP’s Canberra assembly is the first large-scale, face-to-face deliberative project to be completely audio-recorded and transcribed, enabling an unprecedented level of qualitative and quantitative assessment of participants’ actual spoken discourse. Each chapter reports on different research questions for different purposes to benefit different audiences. Combined, they exhibit how diverse modes of research focused on a single event can enhance both theoretical and practical knowledge about deliberative democracy.

The Invisible State

The Invisible State
Author: Alastair Davidson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2002-08-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780521522953

In the modern State, power rests on the consensus of the citizens. They accord its institutions the authority to regulate society. State theory suggests that this authority is a right to speak on certain matters in certain ways and to have the audience agree with those statements. It is a matter of an authorised language; all others fall into the category of ratbaggery. In this 1991 book, the first major book applying State theory to Australia, Alastair Davidson shows how Australian citizens were formed in the nineteenth century, and how their particular characteristics led to the empowering of a certain language of power: legalism. He further shows that this made the judiciary the most powerful arm of government - unlike countries where the people arm sovereign and the legislature supreme - because the judiciary has the last say on all issues and in its own language.

The Constitutional Systems of the Australian States and Territories

The Constitutional Systems of the Australian States and Territories
Author: Gerard Carney
Publisher:
Total Pages: 562
Release: 2014-05-14
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780511242298

This book outlines the constitutional systems of the six Australian states and ten Commonwealth territories. It begins with their history, basic features, role and future within the Australian federation. Its primary focus is on the binding constitutional restrictions which impact on their parliaments and governments. These issues are also dealt with in relation to the three self-governing territories of the ACT, the Northern Territory and Norfolk Island. It is the only Australian legal reference work of its kind which deals specifically with the constitutional systems of the states and territories. This book is for all law students and constitutional law teachers as well as legal advisors to commonwealth, state and territory governments and parliaments. It will also be of interest to Supreme, Federal, and High Court judges, political scientists working in the area of federalism and anyone with an interest in constitutional affairs.

The Forgotten People

The Forgotten People
Author: Robert Menzies
Publisher: Connor Court Publishing Pty Limited
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2018-03
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 9781925501445

75th Anniversary Edition. First Published in 1943.