{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"2.11 If you could change one thing about democracy, part 2","description":"&amp;nbsp; I ask all of my guests two questions:&amp;nbsp;  what for them is the essence of a real democracy? and&amp;nbsp; if they could change one thing about our system of democracy what would it be?  In episode 1.9 we heard from a number of the guests I interviewed in Season 1 (about&amp;nbsp;deliberative mini-publics) on their view of the essence of a real democracy. And in episode 2. 5 we heard a range of ideas for \u2018one change to democracy\u2019. Today is another episode where guests share their idea for that one change (sometimes two) to our system of democracy.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; I\u2019ve found the answers people have given to this question fascinating. As I mentioned last time, sometimes people want changes that directly relate to their area of interest and other things they identify an important change in a completely different part of our democratic system.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; First up we hear from Peter MacLeod from MASS LBP in Toronto Canada. I interviewed Peter in episode 1.6 about MASS LBP\u2019s work designing and delivering Citizen Reference Panels. &amp;nbsp; Next is Titus Alexander from Democracy Matters in the UK. Titus was part of episode 1.10 where he talked about the facilitation process for the two UK Citizens\u2019 Assemblies.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; In episode 1.3 I spoke with the Premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill about why he supports deliberative mini-publics. &amp;nbsp; Professor Brigitte Gei\u00dfel from Goethe University in Frankfurt was part of&amp;nbsp;episode 1.18 discussing how she approaches evaluating deliberative mini-publics.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; Next is Professor Leonardo Morlino from LUISS in Rome&amp;nbsp;who was part of episode 2.3 talking about how to evaluate representative democracy.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; Also in episode 2.3, talking about how to evaluate representative democracy&amp;nbsp;was Professor Wolfgang Merkel from WZB in Berlin. &amp;nbsp; Next is Zelalem Sirna from Ethiopia who is a PhD student in Portugal. Zelalem was part of episode 2.4 about non-western democracy. &amp;nbsp; Professor Mark Warren from the University of British Columbia explained his problem-based approach to democratic theory in episode 2.7. &amp;nbsp; Professor Archon Fung from Harvard University spoke about pragmatic democracy in episode 2.8. &amp;nbsp; And finally, Associate Professor Sofia N\u00e4sstr\u00f6m from Uppsala University&amp;nbsp;in Sweden was my guest on episode 2.9 talking about representation and her upcoming book The Spirit of Democracy. &amp;nbsp; Thank you for joining me today. In the next two episodes of Real Democracy Now! a podcast I\u2019ll taking to a number of people about what isn\u2019t working so well in representative democracy, often referred to as&amp;nbsp;the democratic deficit.&amp;nbsp;I hope you\u2019ll join me then. ","author_name":"Real Democracy Now! a podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/www.realdemocracynow.com.au","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/5408287\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/f0112c\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/item\/5408287"}