Alicia te Wierik - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Alicia te Wierik

Individual appreciation is gratefully recorded to Melbourne newspaper. The Age, for its excellent... more Individual appreciation is gratefully recorded to Melbourne newspaper. The Age, for its excellent coverage of issues related to the Albert Park Grand Prix. Also the many other local newspapers within the inner suburbs of Melbourne for providing an insightful perspective of the issues. Additional recognition of gratitude is forwarded to the hundreds of people who shared their opinions and concerns in Letters to the Editor columns of The Age and other local newspapers. Special thanks is expressed to Ms Deborah Tyler for providing invaluable support and critical guidance throughout the thesis course. Further thanks to Deborah for planting the seed of this paper. Conclusion 44 Bibhography Appendices SYNOPSIS This thesis investigates different styles of government which accord different opportunities for participation of 'power to the people'. An understanding of democratic theory is thus essential as perspectives on democracy illustrate numerous styles of democratic practice and opportunities for citizen involvement. While an object of this theses is to locate styles of democracy used by modern liberal governments, the focus of the research explores the exercise of responsible citizenship. Democratic behavioural techniques of the citizen are carefully examined both in theory and practice. The case being made is that citizens, accustomed to a participatory style of democratic government, have been trained in the 'arts of participation' to act as a caretaker of both their lives and environment. With a shift in the style of government towards an elitist democratic approach, practised by the Kennett Government, the responsible citizen, as caretaker, is excluded from government decision-making processes. In response to the closing off of participatory mechanisms in favour of the elitist style of government, the responsible citizen, is turned into a person engaging in acts of civil disobedience in order to maintain his or her vigilance over the lives and environment of his or her community. Recent changes to the style of democracy practised by government within Victoria's planning system has closed off many of the participatory mechanisms by which citizens practices the role of 'caretaker'. The case being made in this chapter is that Urban Studies Honours Thesis Department of Urban and Social Policy 3. citizens have been trained in the 'arts of participation' and have demonstrated their capacity to act as 'caretakers". A shift in the style of democracy practised by government is shown to undermine this capacity. The shift in the democratic style of government is again highlighted in Chapter 3 and is used to further examine the extent to which participatory democratic values and principles are eroded to the detriment of the citizen's ability to practice his or her trained ability to participate in the affairs of the state. The purpose of this within the scope of the study can be understood in light of Chapter 4, which provides a specific case study into the Government's approach to facilitate the Grand Prix event being held at Albert Park. Chapter 3 provides the necessary foundations for a study into this issue as it establishes a series of instantiations where the democratically trained citizen has been left out of decision-making processes. Rendered powerless under a style of democracy which favours little citizen involvement in the activities of government, citizens in Chapter 4's case study are shown to engage in actions which seek to re-employ their capacity to influence politics and ensure the good care-taking of the social, economic and physical envirormient. Urban Studies Honours Thesis Department of Urban and Social Policy 4. Chapter One: Theories of Democracy and Participation In understanding the concept of democracy as a form of political organisation and subsequently as a state in which society functions it is necessary to define the ideas and practice of democracy. Yet an investigation of democratic theory does not offer a satisfactory statement of the meaning of the concept. Instead, there is a generalised idea that it is "the one form of political organisation designed to accord 'power to the people' thus granting ordinary citizens the greatest opportunity of influencing public decisions" (Maddox, G., 1985: 26). The central ideology of democracy being 'power to the people' does not however, indicate as to how that power may be exercised, nor as to what degree of power people may be afforded (Maddox, G., 1985: 26). Democracy then, is recognised and exercised in a number of styles. For the Greeks, democracy "was a label for a complex set of institutions, customs, practices and values which were themselves the product of a considerable history" (Maddox, G., 1985: 26). Democracy has developed through historical experience in what Sartori, in Modern Federalism, coined 'a trial-and-error process' (Sawer, G.F., 1969: 179). Both the conceptualisation and the exercise of democracy is built on accumulated experience which may not change the central ideological tenets of democracy, but gradually produces alternative styles and methods of practising democracy. Graham Maddox, author of Australian Democracy-Theory and Practice, has defined the various styles in the following themes: direct democracy; classical democracy; enlightenment democracy; pluralist democracy; revisionist democracy; and participatory democracy. Maddox argues that each of these is a style drawn directly from the Greek democratic tradition and yet formulated around an endless 'trial-anderror' historical process which includes the influence of Christianity, French Enlightenment, and American pluralism (Maddox, G., 1985: 31-51). Urban Studies Honours Thesis Department of Urban and Social Policy 5. Direct democratic theorists favour the greatest possible involvement of all citizens in the political life which affects them. They argue that while leadership is one of the basic factors in the organisation of a democratic society, popular participation by the bulk of the community is the essential element within the practice of democracy. Thus the most appropriate quality of a leader is the ability to sense what the public want. According to direct democratic theory, political leaders are in a large measure, the followers and interpreters of the public 'will', rather than its 'inventors' (Thompson, D.F., 1970: 16-17). The direct theory of democracy relies heavily on the autonomous nature of democratic citizens and suggests that "politicians treat citizens as intelligent human beings with a capacity for some emotion" (ibid.) such that citizens will subsequently act according to the ideals of the democratic model. According to Maddox, democracy originated with the direct democracy introduced by the Greeks in Athens as early as 508 B.C. and developed through to the participatory style of democracy which has flourished largely since the late 1960's (Maddox, G., 1985: 27, 51). The differing styles he suggests are largely the product of direct democratic theory adapted in relation to the circumstances of the particular era. Australian democracy derives from direct democratic traditions but in most recent times can be characterised as a participatory democracy, sometimes called 'neoclassical' democracy. Participatory democracy then, is distinguished through its objective of restoring the 'ordinary person' to his or her rightful place of autonomous self-government within the democratic community. Participatory democracy, claims Maddox, begins by rejecting the assertion of revisionist and elitist democratic theorists, who argue that 'the people' should restrict their involvement in politics to mere voting (Maddox, G., 1985: 51). In this respect participatory democracy is very akin to the direct democratic style. Urban Studies Honours Thesis Department of Urban and Social Policy 6. With each style of democracy, the general conditions surrounding approximation to the ideal has continued to depend as much on "an attitude of mind, on unwritten laws and customs, which require resolute adherence to the values of freedom, equality and (community), as on the institutions of the state" (Maddox, G., 1985: 31). Understanding this, the role of the citizen within a democratic society and the concept of 'citizenship democracy' emerges as an area of investigation. 'Citizenship' as used here refers to the present and future capacity of citizens for influencing affairs of the state (Thompson, D.F., 1970: 2). Theorists specialising in the activities of citizenship within a democratic framework argue that citizens armed with democratic behavioural techniques, such as autonomy and responsibility, together with accumulated experience, are capable of performing as 'caretakers' of their lives and their communities. Further they argue that training in participation helps to ensure individuals perform as democratic citizens with attitudes and values which adhere to the unwritten laws of conduct which presuppose the coherent functioning of a democratic society. The term 'citizenship' in twentieth-century democratic theory suggest more than the Greek idea of citizenship in that in modern democratic society, dl individuals are to engage in the activities of citizenship. The Greek origins of citizenship referred to a more restricted group of individuals which included only adult males eligible to give defence service. Women and children, resident aliens and slaves were denied citizenship (Maddox, G., 1985:27). Those eligible to participate in political activities expressed only the views of the collective. In modem democratic society, citizens are given the opportunity to express not only public views, but also the personal interests of individuals and groups (Thompson, D. P., 1970:2). There are other respects in which the twentieth century sentiment of democracy differs from its classical origins in the Greek model. The modem conception allows Urban Studies Honours Thesis Department of...

This thesis investigates different styles of government which accord different opportunities for ... more This thesis investigates different styles of government which accord different opportunities for participation of 'power to the people'. An understanding of democratic theory is thus essential as perspectives on democracy illustrate numerous styles of democratic practice and opportunities for citizen involvement. While an object of this theses is to locate styles of democracy used by modern liberal governments, the focus of the research explores the exercise of responsible citizenship. Democratic behavioural techniques of the citizen are carefully examined both in theory and practice. The case being made is that citizens, accustomed to a participatory style of democratic government, have been trained in the 'arts of participation' to act as a caretaker of both their lives and environment. With a shift in the style of government towards an elitist democratic approach, practised by the Kennett Government, the responsible citizen, as caretaker, is excluded from governme...