RSNSW and Learned Academies Forum 2024

THREATS TO DEMOCRACY — Preliminary Notice

Date: Thursday, 14 November 2024, 8.30 for 9.00 am–5.00 pm AEDT
Venue:  Government House Sydney: in person, by invitation, and live-streaming

Summary

In 2024, the greatest number ever will have voted in ‘democratic’ elections, in Argentina, India, Indonesia, Mexico, the UK, the USA, and others. At the same time, there have been deep questions about the success of democracies. As the Economist put it on February 14th:
This year’s democracy index shows that only 43 of the more than 70 elections are expected to be fully free and fair…. The latest report shows that less than 8% of the world’s population live in full democracies.

Is democracy important in the twenty-first century and if so, why? From its Greek origins, through Roman republican models to the many and varied structures of contemporary states, democracy has mutated but survived. In the much-quoted phrase of Winston Churchill from 1947:
‘Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time .…’

Democracy as a political framework has been influential in creating the global rules-based order that has dominated international affairs for half a century. Now the presuppositions of the rules-based order are in question and democracy itself is under threat. Attitudes to democracy and political power have changed and the nature and structures of political communities are in flux.

Pressure on that order comes from many directions. Global issues such as shifts in political power, the rise of economic inequity and the impact of climate change have reignited national divides and undercut commitment to democratic process. Within Australia, faith in politicians, political parties and the political process is reducing. What is a modern democracy, and how does a multicultural society such as Australia find common voices and policies across differences?

Technologies, from medical advances to artificial intelligence, undermine assumptions about individual freedom and choice. What does it mean to be able to choose a candidate or a government, when personal choice itself can be invisibly influenced? What is personal identity in the new world of biotech? And what can we do about the undermining of privacy– can regulation help? Is the new landscape of media undermining our democracy or simply altering its lineaments? Can we educate for democracy in the digital world? The Forum addresses these issues.

The Forum is held under the auspices of Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales.  The Royal Society of New South Wales acknowledges the generous support of Her Excellency and the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer.