By Peter Hay, Evatt Foundation

In this conference paper Pete Hay argues that democracy exists when there is meaningful - as opposed to merely formal or symbolic - involvement of ordinary people in the shaping of the decisions to which they are thereafter subject.

'Through the 1990s we could have done something about the catastrophe that now impends - something preventative. Instead ... 10 crucial years were lost.

'Now, I'm not actually here to talk about climate change. What I want to ask is why it is that the world's democracies have proven so inept at dealing with an issue of such import and technical complexity.'

Read the full text of Democracy's pre-conditions: And why they are not in place at http://is.gd/4YpwE.

Source: Australian Policy Online