John Parkinson
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Brexit part 2: thresholds, representation, and ‘what next?’
The other day I wrote a post-Brexit reaction which focused on the rather specialised question of how deliberative democrats ought to respond to politics in a ‘post-fact’ society. In that piece I raised but didn’t specifically respond to claims about parliamentary action and bare majorities for issues of such significance. Here’s that response. First, the…
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Brexit, deliberative democracy, and the unforced force of the better argument
It’s more than a week after the vote in the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union, and it’s taken me this long to write something. I mourn for a Britain that can be so courageous and welcoming, but has now legitimised blaming ‘the other’ to deflect blame at home. I am concerned for…
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2017 deliberative democracy summer school announced
The 2017 edition of the University of Canberra’s excellent deliberative summer schools has just been announced. These are great – two days, 30-or-so participants from big names to just-starting PhD students, focusing on cutting edge themes in deliberative theory and practice, with lovely hosts and great surrounds. The 2015 event was excellent and I’m sure this won’t…
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Appearing in a seminar room near you…
I’ve been remiss in posting news about travel, seminars etc – actually, I’ve been remiss about posting anything at all, and plead the usual feeble excuses. But the northern Spring is the season for conferences and workshops in Europe, and this year I’ll be concentrating on two engagements in the first half of the year, with possibly one…
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Deliberative systems project wins Australian research funding
I am delighted to announce that I’ve won an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant for a project to map and compare three deliberative systems in Australia, Scotland, and the United States. The project aims to understand why some promises of a ‘national conversation’ on a policy issue seem to be mere hyperbole, while others seem more…
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Am I the only one who thinks driverless cars are a slightly mad idea?
I keep seeing and hearing stories about driverless cars but am getting increasingly struck by a visual image that won’t leave me alone. It’s an image that is making me wonder whether driverless cars are evidence that we have gone collectively insane. Driverless cars are almost always promoted as being a solution to problems of safety, pollution and…
Ruminative Rumblings 