At the Byron Bay Writers Festival, in conversation with Griffith Review Editor Julianne Schultz, Professor John Keane talks us through the rise and fall of democracies and empires, from a primarily historical perspective
From the very first Platonic democracy of Ancient Greece, Keane argues, through the ages of the civil rights movement, apartheid, the women’s vote, through to the world’s first black president, the institution of Democracy has aided civilisation in avoiding hubris. It has also helped to humble power and, as Churchill liked to say, democracy is still “the best weapon we have against stupidity”.
Keane argues that democracy is not only practiced in the parliament but, since 1945, has become increasingly involved at the grass roots, whereby the citizen is more inclined to have her say via diverse power-scrutinising, problem-solving groups, such as online monitoring agencies.
Keane sees further public scrutiny of activities such as the arms trade, asylum-seeking, and demands for more transparency in the banking and credit sector as very probable and positive trends for the future. In this way, the citizen is working in tandem with parties, politicians and major media players, in keeping this big, friendly giant called “Democracy” on its toes.
The flipside of all this monitoring, he argues, is that politicians are more fearful of their public.
