Skip to main content

Site navigation

  • University of Technology Sydney home
  • Home

    Home
  • For students

  • For industry

  • Research

Explore

  • Courses
  • Events
  • News
  • Stories
  • People

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Study at UTS

    • arrow_right_alt Find a course
    • arrow_right_alt Course areas
    • arrow_right_alt Undergraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Postgraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Research Masters and PhD
    • arrow_right_alt Online study and short courses
  • Student information

    • arrow_right_alt Current students
    • arrow_right_alt New UTS students
    • arrow_right_alt Graduates (Alumni)
    • arrow_right_alt High school students
    • arrow_right_alt Indigenous students
    • arrow_right_alt International students
  • Admissions

    • arrow_right_alt How to apply
    • arrow_right_alt Entry pathways
    • arrow_right_alt Eligibility
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for students

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Apply for a coursearrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Scholarshipsarrow_right_alt
  • Featured industries

    • arrow_right_alt Agriculture and food
    • arrow_right_alt Defence and space
    • arrow_right_alt Energy and transport
    • arrow_right_alt Government and policy
    • arrow_right_alt Health and medical
    • arrow_right_alt Corporate training
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Tech Central
    • arrow_right_alt Case studies
    • arrow_right_alt Research
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for industry

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Partner with usarrow_right_alt
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Explore our research
    • arrow_right_alt Research centres and institutes
    • arrow_right_alt Graduate research
    • arrow_right_alt Research partnerships
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for research

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Research centres and institutesarrow_right_alt
  • University of Technology Sydney home
Explore the University of Technology Sydney
Category Filters:
University of Technology Sydney home University of Technology Sydney home
  1. home
  2. arrow_forward_ios ... Newsroom
  3. arrow_forward_ios ... 2017
  4. arrow_forward_ios 04
  5. arrow_forward_ios Can we do democracy differently?

Can we do democracy differently?

18 April 2017

 

banner for Real Democracy Now podcast

If you're dissatisfied with the current state of democracy but not sure how it could be improved, a podcast by PhD student Nivek Thompson could be for you.

At the Real Democracy Now! podcast you'll hear from experts and activists as well as everyday people about how democracy works and how it can be improved.

Nivek’s research is looking into how political elites such as politicians, senior public servants, understand and respond to democratic innovations, specifically deliberative mini-publics.

Nivek was fascinated with the various movements around the world like the Occupy Movement, Arab Spring or Indignados that were calling for, amongst other things, ‘real democracy’.

So in 2011 she decided to start a PhD on democratic innovation to investigate what real democracy might look like and how it could be achieved.

Nivek has always worked in areas where citizen and member engagement were important. She was reading and thinking about how to improve democracy and wanted to bring her thinking together to ‘make a difference’.

Nivek’s research aims to help solve the wide-spread dissatisfaction with the institutions of representative democracy. Most work around alternative approaches to democracy has focused on democratic innovations as stand alone initiatives supplementing the existing system. Whilst there are clear benefits to be achieved from adding new institutions to the existing ones, Nivek’s view is that to reduce the dissatisfaction with institutions of representative democracy, those very institutions needed to change.

Nivek loves learning and being exposed to so many ideas about democracy - both it’s problems and potential through her PhD studies. “I realise how lucky I am to be able to devote a lot of my time to reading and thinking about these things, and speaking to people working in this field” she says.

Nivek's aim with the Real Democracy Now! podcast, is to provide people outside of academia, who are interested in improving democracy, with information about different ways of approaching democratic reform.

The first season of the podcast, looked at deliberative mini-publics, often called citizens’ juries, which are a very popular democratic innovation around the world and particularly in Australia.

Season 2 is considering representative democracy - what works, what doesn’t, and how it might be improved.

If you care about democracy subscribe to the Real Democracy Now! podcast and join the discussion on the website, on Twitter and on Facebook. Let Nivek know what you think about democracy and what you would like covered in future seasons.

You can access the Real Democracy Now! podcast via iTunes at http://bit.ly/RDNpodcast or Stitcher:  http://bit.ly/RDN_Stitcher

Share
Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share this on LinkedIn
Back to ISF news

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation and the Boorooberongal People of the Dharug Nation upon whose ancestral lands our campuses now stand. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands. 

University of Technology Sydney

City Campus

15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007

Get in touch with UTS

Follow us

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Facebook

A member of

  • Australian Technology Network
Use arrow keys to navigate within each column of links. Press Tab to move between columns.

Study

  • Find a course
  • Undergraduate
  • Postgraduate
  • How to apply
  • Scholarships and prizes
  • International students
  • Campus maps
  • Accommodation

Engage

  • Find an expert
  • Industry
  • News
  • Events
  • Experience UTS
  • Research
  • Stories
  • Alumni

About

  • Who we are
  • Faculties
  • Learning and teaching
  • Sustainability
  • Initiatives
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Campus and locations
  • Awards and rankings
  • UTS governance

Staff and students

  • Current students
  • Help and support
  • Library
  • Policies
  • StaffConnect
  • Working at UTS
  • UTS Handbook
  • Contact us
  • Copyright © 2025
  • ABN: 77 257 686 961
  • CRICOS provider number: 00099F
  • TEQSA provider number: PRV12060
  • TEQSA category: Australian University
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Accessibility