SEMINAR: Political Science and International Relations Seminar

Australia has recently appointed its 6th prime minister in ten years, causing many international commentators to make unfavourable comparisons with banana republics and unstable governments in less ‘developed’ countries. This special roundtable considers whether the recent political turmoil is a uniquely Australian problem or a symptom of a wider malaise that is gripping Western Europe and the United States as well. In short, can democracies cope with contemporary problems, or is the world becoming ungovernable and at risk of descending into chaos and/or authoritarian populism?