The presenters return to the theme of democracy and the rather undemocratic political system we live in.They argue that restoring democracy 'of the people for the people' is more urgent than ever, especially given the 'overlord' threat of Artificial Intelligence.In our current political system, mainstream parties have very small memberships and largely operate on centralised command-and-control principles. Their dominance has been challenged to some extent by the rise of the independents. Also, what was considered a right-wing, racist fringe party, One Nation, is apparently surging in popularity.The presenters explore community-based, deliberative democracy ways of doing things.ReferencesDuran G 2026, The nerd reich: Silicon Valley fascism and the war on democracy, UK, Simon & Schuster.Gauja A 2015, ‘The individualisation of party politics: The impact of changing internal decision-making processes on policy development and citizen engagement’, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Vol. 17(1).Hendriks C M & Dzur A W 2022, ‘Citizens’ governance spaces: Democratic action through disruptive collective problem-solving’, Political Studies 2022, Vol. 70(3).Hendriks C M & Reid R 2024, ‘Citizen-led democratic change: How Australia’s community independents movement Is reshaping representative democracy’, Political Studies 2024, Vol. 72(4).Successful examples of decisions affecting roads being made by Citizens Juries: https://participedia.net/case/4528
