Democracy and Political Ignorance
Topic: One of the biggest problems with modern democracy is that most of the public is usually ignorant of politics and government. Many people understand that their votes are unlikely to change the outcome of an election and don't see the point in learning much about politics. This creates a nation of people with little political knowledge and little ability to objectively evaluate what they do know.
Widespread political ignorance is a major challenge for democracy, and is best mitigated by decentralizing and limiting government. People make better decisions when they choose what to purchase in the market or which state or local government to live under, than when they vote at the ballot box, because they have stronger incentives to acquire relevant information and to use it wisely.
Speaker: Professor Ilya Somin - George Mason University School of Law
Commentators: Professor Graeme Orr and Professor James Allan - TC Beirne School of Law - University of Queensland
Registration Fees: Event registration is $20 for members of the Australian Association of Constitutional Law and members of the Australian Institute for Progress. Registration for non-members is $30.
CPD Points: This series is eligible for self assessed CPD purposes by the Queensland Bar Association.
About Current Constitutional Controversies - Occasional Colloquium Series
This series is a joint initiative of:
Current Constitutional Controversies is a high-profile colloquium series dedicated to timely and incisive discussion of the most important constitutional cases decided by the High Court each year, and other topical questions of constitutional law.
The series, presented by the UQ Law School and the Queensland Chapter of the Australian Association of Constitutional Law, provides a forum for leading scholars, practitioners and members of the judiciary to analyse and discuss current constitutional issues.
Attendance
Attendance is on a RSVP basis and restricted to numbers appropriate to a colloquium format.
Papers
Due to the informal nature of the event, speakers will not necessarily prepare written papers. If a paper is written for distribution it will be made available through this website. A hard copy will not be provided at the colloquium itself.