The democratic project is about more than elections; its institutions must be revitalised on the basis of fairness, respect, openness, integrity and trust.
The most obvious sign of democratic retreat in Australia is the rise of One Nation. Voters are supporting this racist and populist party because they are sick and tired of the untrustworthiness of our major parties, as shown in their response to the gambling lobby.
The US and UK are in democratic decline. In a democracy index produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit the US ranking has fallen from 28th to 34th place since Trump took office. The US remains classified as a “flawed democracy”, marred by political polarisation, institutional damage and major concerns about electoral processes and civil rights.
In the EIU index, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark consistently occupy the top positions. Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland and most of Western Europe typically sit in the upper-middle tier of full democracies, generally ranked somewhere between 10th and 20th globally.
There is also the Democracy Perception Index 2026, the world’s largest annual study on how people perceive democracy. The index measures a range of issues: elections, peaceful transitions, civic education, rule of law, political pluralism, freedom of speech, separation of powers and government transparency. It rates the US 64 out of 98 countries. Australia is ranked 8, NZ 10 and the UK 30. Since Brexit the UK has almost become ungovernable with six prime ministers in 10 years.
In many countries, “democracy” has been narrowed down to a view that it is only about elections and not well-functioning institutions. There are so many signs of decay in our institutions – unchallenged lies and falsehoods in the media, most recently over the genocide in Gaza; media capture by our intelligence services; secret lobbying; and, Clive Palmer-style disinformation.
The wealth gap between young and old is growing. The funding of schools favours the wealthy. Medicare as a universal system is being eroded by a government subsidy of $12 billion for private health insurance. Year after year we cut foreign aid to the poor of the world.
Under foreign interference and hate speech legislation, universities have lost their way. The Australian Association of University Professors has called for a Royal Commission to address systemic governance failures, whistle blowing repression and threats to democracy.
The legacy media has contributed to the alienation. The Murdoch media is the least trusted in Australia, along with politicians. They are complicit in the Gaza genocide but hide that complicity by alleging criticism of Israel is antisemitic.
To change the way our institutions operate faces a major obstacle – the power of those who benefit from the present system. Insiders want to hang on to power. Our media, churches and major political parties are run by insiders for the benefit of insiders. We will see that on show at this month’s ALP National Conference. The controlling elite will give us weasel words to avoid honest discussion on issues such as AUKUS and gas taxation. To improve public services, we need to increase taxation, particularly from the foreign owners of our rich mineral resources.
How then can we renovate our public institutions and restore public trust?
Parliamentary reforms could include independent audits not only of entitlements of MPs but also their performance. A good start would be an all-party committee to consider ways in which the way parliament functions could be improved.
We need a better parliamentary committee system where, hopefully, we can begin to see again the art of negotiation and compromise. The Senate has shown that improvements are possible. Unfortunately, though, the government has ignored numerous reports tabled by parliamentary committees. One of these recommends a Human Rights Act for Australia – we need that Act so that we can enshrine our civil liberties.
The Gillard government established a Parliamentary Budget Office. It was a good start. Similar offices should be established on health, education, defence and foreign affairs. The research resources of the Parliamentary Library should be enhanced.
Other measures to repair trust include requiring all public authorities to facilitate open discussion on key issues; better funding the office of the auditor-general and restoring the professionalism of the public service. Some large consulting firms have acted corruptly; they must be denied access to government work until they have re-established public confidence in their integrity.
Lobbyists are corrupting public life. The Australian Government Register of Lobbyists should include paid employees of interest groups as well as external lobbyists. But registration is not sufficient: it must be accompanied by the power to enforce proper lobbying conduct and to issue penalties.
There are 538 registered federal lobbyists; 191 are former government representatives. No wonder governments are reluctant to properly regulate lobbying! It is a lucrative retirement opportunity. Ministers and senior officials should be barred from taking employment for three years with any organisation with which they have dealt in government. Many ex-ministers have their lobbying snouts in the AUKUS trough. The revolving door in the Department of Defence must be closed.
Robust democratic institutions and democratic debate are critical. Freedom of information must be strengthened to enforce more disclosure. Whistleblowers need more encouragement and protection. We need a strong federal anti-corruption commission with real powers.
Our public media, ABC and SBS must be better funded, and all media protected from exploitation. The proposed News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) designed to “tax” the tech giants has major structural flaws. Large language models and AI platforms will continue to scrape independent media content. I have checked and found that Pearls and Irritations content is used in these platforms without any compensation.
Numerous counterterrorism laws threaten our freedom and privacy. We are no safer. Moreover, we need to curb the war powers of prime ministers who have taken us into disastrous wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria without parliamentary approval.
Institutions, like people, are all prone to error and abuse of power. Yet, too often we avoid addressing institutional failure by suggesting they are all leadership problems. “If only we had a better prime minister, or a better chairperson, all would be well.” All leaders inevitably disappoint us. We need institutions and a public culture that are in good order. We need stronger institutional guard rails.
Decades of failure to keep political promises have taken a heavy toll. Fairness, respect for others, openness, integrity and trust, are the glue that hold us together. A democratic and free society will remain free only if the virtues necessary for freedom are alive in our community. The democratic project and institutions within it must be informed by what is right and true. Every society needs a moral compass. Free and fair elections are not sufficient.
John Menadue is the Founder of Pearls and Irritations and a board member. He was formerly the Editor-in-Chief. John was the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, Ambassador to Japan, Secretary of the Department of Immigration and CEO of Qantas.