Can you imagine life without democracy?
The Museum of Australian Democracy began the Loss of Freedom initiative at the beginning of June 2011. By the end of the month it was obvious that it had created an online buzz cloaked in intrigue, mystery, and just a little reflection. Hundreds of online conversations later it was clear that the campaign had drawn the attention of those as prominent as the mainstream media and as unexpected as Dirt Bikers World. All tended to focus on Australian democratic rights (perhaps without knowing it) and on the implications and plausibility of the messages that had appeared without warning in their cities. In the space of a short time, the ‘news’ seeded to new sites where the conversations were taken up all over again.
The ‘Who Done it? Game was favourite with many punters tipping a sci-fi film, television show or game. But the most popular villain was Big Tobacco. This association was propelled by a logic that if tobacco companies were already using television advertising to rail against government plans to legislate for the plain-packaging of cigarettes then perhaps they were also behind a poster and billboard campaign that seemed to imply that Australia was in danger of becoming a ‘nanny state’. But it was not Big Tobacco. It was us—the Museum of Australian Democracy. And we were selling something. Not something in the traditional sense, but in the sense of something that people might only realise is important when it is under threat or at risk.
Before going further, it is important to state that the museum does not believe that all pregnancies should be approved, or that holders of expired ID cards should be prosecuted, or that all unapproved gatherings should be prohibited, or that curfews should be necessarily created and enforced. Through this activity, the museum did not seek to cause offence or fear—rather to meet its challenge of raising awareness of Australian democracy—of upholding Australian democracy.
This it set out to do in two ways:
- by increasing awareness and understanding of Australian democracy; and
- by increasing interest in democracy by highlighting its relevance.
The messages were important in themselves and made more relevant in the knowledge that some Australians think of politics as ‘boring’—even irrelevant. A recent report by Freedom House (an international non-governmental organisation dedicated to research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights) argued:
…the last five years have featured an overall decline in global respect for the values of liberal democracy: multiparty elections, the rule of law, freedom of association, freedom of speech, the rights of minorities, and other fundamental, universal human rights.
Read the full report at Council for a Community of Democracies
The media took up the conversation and raised the spectre of Orwellian Dystopia. Was this just hype or a real possibility? At least a few bloggers did not think so and made perceptive calls to action:
From what I can see these are extremely threatening messages to our Constitution and a group like this should be stopped. That’s the nature of our democracy. Let’s uphold it.
And:
I hope this is someone’s creative example of what our world is heading to if things don’t change in a major way.
But when all things were considered, there was little critical analysis. Maybe because the posters related to a ‘distant’ future; maybe because the messages were obviously hypothetical; or maybe because people had other things on their mind. While conversations sparked online, they could have gone further.
Can it be that since Australians have always known democracy, they can’t seriously imagine another possibility? Still the level of engagement proved that our democracy does matter to many—it matters if you want to:
- be able to contribute to and ‘own’ decisions that are made about your life;
- feel empowered, confident and skilled—especially with respect to seeking alternative sources of information;
- protect the things that are important to you;
- be respected, listened to and consulted;
- encourage the involvement of others and gather in public groups; and
- be able to speak out and to publish dissenting views.
Every day, parliamentarians, and others who want to be involved in the debate, hold media conferences, issue media statements, and give ‘doorstop interviews’ on their way into work. They seek opportunities to contribute to the formal debate, knowing that publicity and politics goes hand in hand. If you want to win support for your ideas, specific programs or pieces of legislation; if you like Australia the way it is and you do not want to see it change, then you are a stakeholder too—you are a partner with a vested interest.
Knowing what democracy is, is a good start!