I have long held doubts about the veracity of calling our parliamentary system a democracy. I'm pretty certain that genuine, participative democracy isn't possible in any community.

Australia still borrows strongly from the democratic ideal however. Although we centralise our government and relinquish most of our collective decision making, we have reserved the right to vote so as to maintain a watch on those we place in charge. The result of the vote is possibly less important than the statutory power it wields over government in the forum of public opinion.

In the real world this compromise works well. It frees citizens from a responsibility they are unable to deal with, while still empowering them with adequate control over their future.

Somehow, within our parliament, we've achieved a careful balance between opposing ideologies and respectable checks on absolute power, while still allowing the space required for events to unfold. How Australia, of all nations, came to adopt this intricate system is something of a mystery. The answer is buried somewhere in our history but much of it can be found in the momentous advances of Westminster, and the rest in that superb and dynamic period of Australian maturity, the 19th Century.

We don't love our government, or the parliament, but we do love our freedom to express ourselves, our rule of law, our ability to make our own life-changing decisions, and our social stability.

To what extent is our form of government responsible for these things? Given the 'set and forget' nature of mandated terms of government, it is tempting to suggest that there are more subtle and powerful social forces at work than the blunt instrument of parliament. But this requires an altruism of the Australian citizenry which, given both our history and contemporary culture, requires a considerable stretch of credibility.

The real potency within our parliamentary system is not so much that citizens are the government, but that the government is powerless without the support of citizens. Each maintains a certain control over the other.

For this to work it means that any opposition to the government must be taken seriously, and that is exactly the scenario that our parliamentary system makes possible.

The current government has been jack booting its way through the china shop of parliament in the recent past. They're not the only ones at fault though, as their predecessors had already unlocked the doors to such behaviour and the Australian citizenry itself, assisted by a sleepy media, has turned a blind eye.

As the Liberal Party begins its implosion over Cornelia Rau, the economy and long awaited factional infighting, they know that a senate majority will have little meaning without the support of the electorate. John Howard understands this very well and is looking over his shoulder at the rising tide of public opinion. Wether he or his party retains leadership of the country makes little difference, because to survive they are going to have to change their way of doing things, in line with the public mandate.

Is this democracy? Not really, but it's as close as we'll ever get, so probably deserves the title.

I prefer Parliamentocracy, and it is proving yet again its resilience in the face of adversity. They may not realise it yet, but Margo Kingston and her like minded citizens have turned the tide simply because they wouldn't shutup. 'Their Democracy' has made it possible.

There's always room for improvement, and this difficult period should be seen as an opportunity to learn from mistakes and mature that little bit more. The emphasis should be on strengthening the foundation of opposition and minority opinion as the true lifeblood of Our Democracy. Majority public opinion is often wrong, and always needs the "I told you so's" to keep it honest.

If this Web forum is part of an organised plan to come up with an overall strategy for change, then that is the best start imaginable.

To that end I would suggest investing effort where it is going to pay the highest dividends. Forget the media moguls and concentrate on cyberspace networks, building them into a coherent, linked environment. Push Non Profit Organisations hard, and make the most of the gearing they already have within the inner sanctum of government. Engage prominent philanthropists in public and cyberspace discussions to increase the public pulse - I'm sure there's nothing they would enjoy more. Empower back benchers with open encouragement to improve transparency and accountability in government, and pay a lot more attention to the opposition parties no matter how poorly led. Sling mud at the government, but don't allow them to become the absolute focus.

And always keep one eye open.

Hamish: Democracy, first and foremost, is the name of a method of managing society - of governance, if you like. Its distinctiveness is that it involves a very large portion of the people in decision making, rather than a very few.

If that is correct, democracy does not exist.

Democracy does not exist in objective terms.
It exists in subjective terms. It exists only if you believe it exists.
If a person believes it exists, the State through the education institutions made you to think that way.

Did a large portion of Australia vote for Australia to go to war agaist Iraq? No. The opposite. Surveys have shown that about 70 percent of Australians didn't want to go to war with Iraq.
We did.
We live in a dictatorship.

It seems to me that the majority so far are agreeing that Democracy is in trouble, and some of us think it doesn't exist.

However there also seems to be a strong sentiments that Howard and the Libs/Nats have ruined "our democracy ".

That's not fact at all. It is all political parties that have contributed to that. Should Latham have won, things would not have changed, they would simply have taken the reins and the purse strings and redirected the money. Many would still be ignored, just some different groups than currently.

There's also the reality of all the Labor State Governments, and being in QLD I can say that exactly the same is happening at State Government level. Also at Council level.

I dislike Howard's politics and the man as much as anyone but I don't have the delusion that it is only him/them. We have simply lost control of how our governments work, regardless of their politics. Once in power they abuse it.

If we are all simply Labor supporters we are wasting our time as they lost the election. We won't gain support from the other sides of politics by continuing with Howard bashing. I say bash them all, they are brothers and sisters, they work together.