With Gillard negotiating a minority Government, there's been a lot
of discussion about the nature of democracy and what goes on in
Parliament.
Jon Shapiro is a host of East Side Radio's "Friday
Drive" program (89.7 FM, a community station which broadcasts out of
Paddington Town Hall).
Jon Shapiro has a strong interest in participatory democracy, and his
position on "Democracy Without Politics" has been cited in several
publications relating to democracy, along with various internet forums.
The following quote gives an idea of where Jon is coming from :
Democracy and politics are different things. Democracy is hard to
define with any precision, and therefore it may take a variety of forms;
there seems to be general agreement it means something like ordinary
people being able, to some extent, to determine the laws that govern
them. Politics is a broad term encompassing the range of interactions
between individual members of a community, and is mainly directed atand lawmaking is indicated by the term politics being uniformly applied
to lawmaking. However, this application distracts us from the
possibility of quarantining politics from lawmaking; and, further, the
necessity of doing so if we want democracy to function properly.All systems of national lawmaking have so far been political, in that
politics is used to select an elite of decision-makers (elected
politicians, in nominal democracies) to make laws for the rest of us.
The interference of politics with lawmaking is not only frustrating for
ordinary citizens, but also leads to lacklustre laws being made.
Where & When
6.30 for 7 at Club Swans, Second Floor, 28 Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross.
www.clubswans.com.au.
The discussion begins at 7pm and will go to approximately 8pm, then
a short break and general discussion with the audience and then an
optional dinner for those who are interested.
Club Swans is providing the area for free so all that is asked is to
purchase a drink and/or food - you don't even need to stay for the whole
event, but hopefully long enough to consume something !