Amid a political climate of distrust, polarisation and disengagement, a new social enterprise is working to bring more Australians back into the democratic process and re-establish trust between politicians and communities.
Co-founded by two women with close to 40 years of experience in policy and community facilitation between them, Emma Fletcher and Emily Jenke created DemocracyCo to provide community events and a team of experts to support representatives to engage deeply with communities, fostering a more informed and participatory democracy.
“Australia is rightly proud of its vibrant democratic tradition. But our democracy is facing growing challenges due to increased polarisation, a lack of trust in politicians, and a lack of faith in our democratic processes,” Fletcher tells Women’s Agenda.
When it comes to polarisation, Jenke says “opinions are moving sharply to the right or left and this presents several risks for our system of government because it makes compromise and meaningful reform harder. While everyone has opinions, communities – and our democracy – require collective consideration and judgement.”
Research by Amplify shows 65 per cent of Australians believe we have become more divided, with hyper-personalised algorithims on social media exacerbating the problem.
And while 84 per cent of Australians want to be more actively involved in policy decisions, trust in politicians, governments and institutions is at its lowest level since 1993.
Australia’s compulsory voting system is designed to keep people engaged with democracy, but one in 10 eligible Australians aren’t voting at all, and a further five per cent are casting illegitimate or incomplete votes.
Local media outlets also play an important role in keeping people connected to developments within their communities, but a lack of local journalists reporting on community issues has created an atmosphere of distrust and polarisation, according to the social enterprise.
Women’s political involvement in Australia
Fletcher and Jenke are both passionate about diversity in politics and say they’ve deliberately designed processes that encourage all voices to participate– especially those that are underrepresented or have traditionally faced barriers to inclusion.
“The People’s House was created to help bridge the gap between MPs and their constituents, and using a process called deliberative democracy, The People’s House brings a diverse range of constituent voices together with their MPs and in community forums to explore the issues that matter to them,” says Fletcher.
“This process ensures women’s voices within the community are heard, and the female candidates and MPs who represent them are engaged, listening, engaged and empowered by their connection with their community and its constituents.”
Fletcher and Jenke say they hope that “with time, this will give more women the courage to participate in Australian politics”.
Countries around the world have implemented models to encourage deliberative democracy, and Jenke notes that Teals’ MP Kate Chaney is running a similar process to DemocracyCo in Western Australia.
“Using a lottery system that ensures an accurate representation of Australia’s diverse population, the People’s House facilitates fair, open forums with a diverse range of community voices and perspectives,” says Jenke.
“We have worked across the political spectrum and to ensure that the framing and focus of these forums are non-partisan, a stakeholder group of sector and industry experts, as well as MPs, are also invited to participate in the process.”
Respectful political discussions
Engaging with opposing viewpoints is the hallmark of a healthy democracy, but research shows only 20 per cent of people frequently seek other perspectives, and only 9 per cent add opposing viewpoints to social media feeds.
The ability to question another person’s opposing viewpoint in a civil way is a learned skill that is critical to positive change. And when we question our own world view, we open doors for learning and growth.
In the coming months, Fletcher says The People House will be hosting two community forums for the seats of Menzies and Bennelong.
“Our forums have successfully helped communities to work through all sorts of issues, from pet ownership to climate change, and we encourage people to join us,” Fletcher says.
Jenke adds that, in the past, they’ve “run community forums with Liberals MP Aaron Violi and Labor MP Alicia Payne and we would like to see more MPs come forward and participate.”