Margo Kingston has a unique position in Australian journalism. She's one of our most senior reporters but over the last three years her focus has been a weblog on public affairs - Webdiary. Until last week, Webdiary was the property of Fairfax but no longer. After spending most of her career at the company, Margo Kingston is unplugged. We find out why she left and what she plans for Webdiary Margo, Unplugged
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Democracy at Risk
Democracy at Risk reveals the dangers of civic disengagement for the future of representative democracy.
The authors, all eminent scholars, undertake three main tasks: documenting recent trends in civic engagement, exploring the influence that the design of political institutions and public policies have had on those trends, and recommending steps that will increase the amount and quality of civic engagement in America. The authors focus their attention on three key areas: the electoral process, including elections and the way people get involved; the impact of location, including demographic shifts and changing development patterns; and the critical role of nonprofit organizations and voluntary associations, including the philanthropy that help keep them going.
• How Political Choices Undermine Citizen Participation, and What We Can Do About It [A page on constitutional law case book reviews ; If the law is an ass the law professor is a donkey ]
• · The NSW Liberal Party is taking time to heal its wounds after the apparent suicide attempt of former Opposition Leader John Brogden, newly elected Liberal leader Peter Debnam says NSW Liberal Party is healing ; Politicians and journalists have to live in each other's pockets. They naturally become close Peter Coleman: Candid remarks bite back; The question everyone's asking is: did the Telegraph go too far? State Libs healing: Debnam <
• · · Empire' only became a dirty word in the twentieth century Emancipation & empire, from Cromwell to Karl Rove ; Beyond imperialism: the new internationalism; Empire: a blunt tool for democratization
• · · · Once a liberal pin-up and intellectual leader of the global human rights movement, Michael Ignatieff has fallen out badly with some of his best friends and colleagues No more Mr. Nice Guy; We may have seen only a hint of hip-hop's political promise Hip-Hop Voting Bloc?
• · · · · I just returned from a lovely little respite from the usual grind and its daily dose of news alerts and fire alarms A tale of 4 ethics ; 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America': Who's No. 1?
• · · · · · The history wars ; A Geoffrey Robertson Hypothetical: Australia under attack ; The sacrosanct seats of the lords of creation: n 1925, in the ‘bear pit’ of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in Sydney’s Macquarie Street, Millicent Preston-Stanley gave the first speech made by a female Member of Parliament (MP) in this state and only the second in any Australian parliament Preston-Stanley and Women MPs