23 November 2023 - 23 November 2023
7:30PM - 9:30PM
Ustinov Room, Van Mildert College
Free
Come and join us at Mildert for the next open discussion in our Critical Conversations series. Share your ideas and hear from others on this event’s big question which is about democracy. Bring your curiosity and an open mind.
European parliament
To get you thinking:
Democracy is fragile. It’s vulnerable to capture by hostile state actors, and special interest groups. It can be corrupted by money and influence. And maybe more worryingly, democratic politics no longer seems to capture the imagination of the population. Voter turnout is at historic lows and cynicism about politicians is at an historic high.
So: do we live in a democracy?
Come along to our informal event, broaden your horizons and share your ideas.
Panellists
Professor Sir John Curtice is Britain’s favourite psephologist.His appearances on election-night television have made him a national treasure.The UK relies on him to interpret that statistics about vote swings, boundary changes and voter turnout.No one knows more about electoral maths in the UK.
Darren Hughes is Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society, the UK’s leading independent campaign organisation for electoral reform. Originally from New Zealand, he was elected to the NZ House of Representatives at age 24 and served across three parliaments, including as a government minister.
Dr Brian Carey is an Assistant Professor of Political Theory at Durham University.He is interested in a wide range of issues in contemporary political theory and moral philosophy, with a particular focus on questions involving political feasibility, and public deliberation under non-ideal circumstances.
David Verkmann is studying for a degree in Geography at Durham University.He sits on the Critical Conversations steering group at Van Mildert College.
Critical Conversations
Van Mildert College hosts a series of discussion events to challenge ideas and discuss big questions.
Panellists include students, staff and subject specialists. They open the discussion by speaking for 5 minutes about the topic. After that conversation flows freely across the panel and the audience.
The events are open spaces for conversation and ideas to breathe and flourish. Discussion is given space and encouragement, diversity of ideas is welcomed freely. No objective or answer is sought – the goal is to provoke thought.
