Ian McAuley asks how Kevin Rudd can exercise true leadership and avoid the 'Strong Leader' style which helped bring about the Howard government's demise.

Miriam Lyons looks at the history of 'open government' in Australia and introduces the Reclaiming Democracy edition.

In this handy table the CPD lists the key problems facing our democracy, and outlines the current position of the incoming federal Labor government.

Marcus Westbury argues that in a "me-too" era, the real debate is between authoritarianism and accountability.

The recent federal election had a unique new element: hundreds of thousands of people had the tools to make their opinions known to politicians and the broader public. Brett Solomon talks about what groups like GetUp mean for the future of Australian democracy.

PR industry critic Bob Burton questions the effectiveness of the industry's attempts to regulate itself and argues that citizen journalists are best placed to uncover democracy's doctor deaths.

Susan Ryan details the citizens' campaign for a Human Rights Act for Australia.

Australia has been a democratic innovator in the past and it can be again, writes Janette Hartz-Karp.

Jason Falinski asks how unseating an incumbent government became such a Herculean task.

Australia faces a choice: radically constrain political donations or slide towards an American-style 'big money' system, write Lee Rhiannon and Norman Thompson.