Auditing democracy
We live in a
democracy, right? It's probably worth checking on that, which is why the
Political Science Program at ANU's Research School of Social Sciences is conducting an Audit to assess Australia's strengths and weaknesses in that area. The
Democratic Audit of Australia (
http://democratic.audit.anu.edu.au/) is understandably looking at the Howard Government's
anti-terrorism bill. Jennifer Hocking has done a paper on it at
http://democratic.audit.anu.edu.au/Papers-2005/HockingantiterrorNov2005.pdf.
Hocking concludes: "
Good public policy thrives on debate, encourages difference and welcomes dissent. Insulating the security sector from open debate, critique and alternative approaches, cannot lead to the best policy outcomes." Hmm.
Posted by belinda at November 24, 2005 11:40 AM