“You can pick up a newspaper every day that’s talking about what’s wrong with our democracy, but there aren’t a lot of people talking about what we can do to fix it,” says Iain Walker, Executive Director of Australia’s newDemocracy Foundation.

Walker goes beyond the problems of the democratic system to the solutions. Along the way, he shares a whole lot of eye-opening information.

Press play to learn:

• Where democracy started, and whether it’s always involved elections
• The different between democracy in Ancient Athens and democracy today
• In what ways democracy has become excessively responsive to public opinion over public judgment (and why it matters)
• The importance of critical thinking by members of the public in a democracy
• How the U.S. political system differs from that of most other countries
• Why voting disincentivizes politicians to hold deep discussions on the actual issues at hand

The wider U.S. public has a good deal of trust in the criminal jury system and the way democracy is run. But should they? Walker brings to light the influence of misinformation and money, the corruptibility of elections, and alternative ways of doing democracy that would make it better – indeed more democratic.

Interested in learning more?

Tune in for the full conversation and visit https://www.newdemocracy.com.au/.

Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/38oMlMr