Still up to us what we do in New Zealand and unless we get stuck in and do something truly effective who are we to complain about others?
The difference is that a people's assembly or jury is selected by lot, not appointed, and listens to experts, stakeholders etc as part of informing itself before getting into discussion. The sponsor,usually a public body, government minister or the like, ...
and for a summary of experience in Canada and Australia (there being no experience in New Zealand to be summarised) go to Claudia Chwalitz's paper, which can be downloaded as a pdf from the Policy network site. It also summarised the salient ...
Thanks. Don't mean to pontificate. The following have been sources: https://equalitybylot.wordpress.com https://www.newdemocracy.com.au http://www.sortitionfoundation.org http://www.g1000.uk http://www.g1000.org/en/ http://www.democraticaudit.com/2017/08/...
From the number of comments there is a lot of interest in our electoral system. And a lot of individual opinions. How, as New Zealanders, do we come to an agreed position or at least a position we can all live with for the time being. Could we not assign ...
Well, there are obviously a lot of people interested in tax issues, understandably. Should not be a problem finding people willing to take part in a long-form discussion, or people's assembly chosen by lot with the task of reviewing tax generally, with ...
How much more exciting it would be if there was a party offering people a real say in policy and spending decisions through participatory budgeting and people's assemblies.
Policy is indeed what matters, unfortunately we have to vote for parties.
Participatory democracy is something of a different animal from our version of representative democracy, and a very attractive idea. Currently I am trying to start a campaign for a trial of participatory budgeting in Auckland, as a taster of participation,...
I have not read through more than a fraction of the responses to this piece, and apologise if what follows has already been put by someone else. I wonder whether it is time to consider and to try out ways of running the country that get round the ...
Of course New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions are small on a world scale, but they are relatively large per head of population. Also, setting an example can do as much as the actual reductions. The idea that emission reductions equates directly to ...
The Paris climate accord has never been ratified by congress in the US, and "ratification" was an action taken by Obama on his own using his presidential power, so it was always on Trump's list for destruction. However, much action against climate change ...
Is the Bill of Rights Act, if that's what it is called, just an ordinary Act, or is it entrenched? If it is just an ordinary Act, then it can be repealed. Any government with a majority of one could do it. If the rights were embedded as part of a written ...
Representative democracy, with parliamentarians elected, is described by some as elective aristocracy. An alternative, selection by lot, could be described as truly democratic. This has generally not been tried except as a way of obtaining advice or ...
Another illustration of the stranglehold the National, or any other, government has on local government under our present, unwritten, constitution. A written constitution could define the functions and powers of local government and entrench them. Whether ...
I would think that neither the Nats nor Labour have a plan at present, just aspirations.
Molly, I have put the full fantasy suggestion up on moredemocracyplease.nz, and you will see that it is envisaged as a three session process - define the most important issues - discuss and propose solutions - receive and discuss Council reaction to the ...
A proposal has recently been sent by me to Marguerite Delbet, Auckland Council's advisor on democracy, suggesting that a series of forums could be convened with citizens and Auckland residents chosen by lot, enough of them to have a good chance to be ...
We need at least some news media, print, online, radio and tv, which are independent of advertising and independent of private ownership. Either we the people fund such media through our taxes as an essential part of a healthily functioning democracy, or ...
Cats, with their independent spirit and beguiling purrs, have captured the hearts of humans for millennia. In New Zealand, felines are no exception, boasting the highest national cat ownership rate globally [definition cat nz cat foundation]. An estimated 1.134 million pet cats grace Kiwi households, compared to 683,000 dogs ...
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