Deliberation and deliberative democracy, Public Policy

The danger of policy – and deliberation – in straight lines

Teaching a class of middle- ranking policy makers last year brought to the foreground an issue I’ve been pondering for a while now. It is this: many officials focus too much on a well-defined problem, and design solutions to fix that problem directly. Indeed, they are taught, and incentivised, to do that. The vast majority of public administration and management courses and text-books preach that … Continue reading The danger of policy – and deliberation – in straight lines

John ParkinsonMonday, 5 November 2018Monday, 5 November 2018Leave a comment

Deliberation and deliberative democracy, Public space

Parliament Rebuilding – don’t let them seal themselves off

I was privileged yesterday to take part in a discussion on CBC radio’s Ottawa Morning show with host Robyn Bresnahan and Jennifer Ditchburn, Editor in Chief of Policy Options. Jennifer had written an excellent piece about a huge, decade-long programme to renovate the Centre Block of the Canadian Parliament, something that is not being discussed but should be, because of its potential to significantly disrupt the … Continue reading Parliament Rebuilding – don’t let them seal themselves off

John ParkinsonWednesday, 31 October 2018Leave a comment

News

A new job in Europe!

Followers of my social media feeds will already know this, but on 1 January 2019 I take up a new position as Professor of Social and Political Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. It’s a rather exciting opportunity because the whole faculty works in a very boundary-crossing way. The department itself has … Continue reading A new job in Europe!

John ParkinsonFriday, 26 October 2018Friday, 18 January 2019Leave a comment

News

Waves hello

Hello! I’m popping my head above the parapet for the first time in — oh my goodness, nearly 18 months. And what an 18 months it’s been. I feel like I’ve barely drawn breath, and have not had the headspace let alone time to write here. I’ll not go into all the details, but the key highs and lows include: getting started on the National … Continue reading *Waves hello*

John ParkinsonWednesday, 25 July 2018Wednesday, 31 October 2018Leave a comment

News, Research projects

Welcome Núria Franco-Guillén

I’m delighted to welcome Dr Núria Franco-Guillén who has joined the National Conversation Project as Project Specialist, based with me in the Centre for Governance and Public Policy at Griffith . Dr Franco-Guillén holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. Her research interest focus on territorial and multilevel politics and diversity studies, and she has expertise in computer-assisted qualitative … Continue reading Welcome Núria Franco-Guillén

John ParkinsonThursday, 2 February 2017Thursday, 2 February 2017Leave a comment

Deliberation and deliberative democracy, News, Research projects

Closed: Research Assistant Job

I’m hiring a research assistant (or possibly two) to work on my ARC-funded research project, Sparking a National Conversation. The research assistant might contribute in a number of different ways to the project, but the right person might have one, two or all of these skill sets: e-social science or big data skills qualitative and interpretive skills experience with research in indigenous Australian politics an … Continue reading Closed: Research Assistant Job

John ParkinsonMonday, 18 July 2016Thursday, 11 August 20161 Comment

John Parkinson

Ruminative rumblings

Author: John Parkinson