Project Description

How should the public sphere institutions and actors respond to the threats posed by the violent extremism? Drawing on the theory and practice of deliberative democracy, this project seeks to develop a framework for assessing and improving the public sphere responses to violent extremism in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It seeks to explain how ‘democratic resilience’ differs from and supplements ‘community resilience’, which is the current resilience framework used by the NSW Government. The project will provide practical recommendations for public servants, policy makers and the journalists working to develop strategies for tackling violent extremism. While the primary focus of the project is NSW Government CVE practice, the project takes a broader approach and engages with both national and international practice in tackling violent extremism.

The project is funded by the NSW Government, Premier and Cabinet, Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Program 2022.

Project Outputs

1. Ercan, S. A., McSwiney, J., Balint, P., and Dryzek, J. S. (2022). Building Democratic Resilience: Public Sphere Responses to Violent Extremism. Technical Report for Department of Premier and Cabinet, NSW, Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Program.

Public Engagement

1. Ercan, S.A, McSwiney, J., and Balint, P. (2022) Learning Democratic Resilience. Preliminary Findings and Recommendations, NSW Government, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Connected Communities, 23 March (virtual).

2. Ercan, S.A. (2022) Deliberative Democracy: Theory and Practice, NSW Government, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Connected Communities, 19 May (virtual).

3. Ercan, S.A., McSwiney, J., Balint, P., and Dryzek, J. (2022) Learning Democratic Resilience, NSW Government Stakeholders, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Connected Communities, 8 June (virtual).

4. Balint, P., McSwiney, J. and Ercan, S.A. (2022) Learning Democratic Resilience, Resilient Democracy for Resilient Communities, Charles Sturt University, Sydney, 23 August.

5. Ercan, S.A., McSwiney, J., Balint, P. (2022) Contemporary Threats to the Public Sphere, Panel at the Australian Political Studies Association General Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, 26-28 September.

6. McSwiney, J., Ercan, S.A. and Balint, P. (2022) Report Launch and Panel Discussion: Building Democratic Resilience, Freilich Project for the Study of Bigotry, Australian National University, Canberra, 13 October. Recording available here.

7. McSwiney, J. (2022) Future Flux, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Canberra, 17 October.

8. McSwiney, J. (2022) Democratic Resilience: Public Sphere Responses to Violent Extremism, Threat Briefing Webinar #14, Charles Sturt University, 27 October (virtual).

9. McSwiney, J., Ercan, S.A, Balint, P., and Dryzek, J. (2022) Building Democratic Resilience: How the Public Sphere Responses to Violent Extremism. AVERT Research Symposium, Deakin University, Melbourne, 21-22 November.

10. Ercan, S.A. and McSwiney, J. (2023) Building Democratic Resilience, Connected Communities—Strengthening Social Cohesion and Democratic Resilience, NSW Government, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Sydney, 16 March (virtual).