About

Now, more than ever, we need a virtual public square. During times of crisis and decision-making, a robust and informed public debate is very necessary. This is the ethos that underpins the Democracy Project, hosted by Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. This new project aims to enhance New Zealand democracy and public life by promoting critical thinking, analysis, debate, and engagement on politics and society.

The project is university-based but independently run by Dr Bryce Edwards, with help from independent researchers. We are keen to involve a wide range of other public intellectuals in the project—journalists, academics, activists, and others— and create a platform offering up diverse views and thought. We are resolutely non-partisan and ‘for the public good’.

Essentially, the Democracy Project is an experiment in new ways of doing politics, involving academic, civil society, and media collaboration. Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington are hosting the project. The project has complete editorial independence from the University.

Funding for the Democracy Project comes entirely from philanthropy. If you would like to support us, get in touch.

What the project provides

The website is the central hub for the project. We will be publishing commissioned analysis relating to New Zealand politics and society and the Coronavirus crisis. Most articles on the site will be published under a ‘Creative Commons’ non-copyright licence, which means that they are free to be republished by other media with attribution and a link to the Democracy Project.

NZ Politics Daily is a comprehensive, compendium of links to news and analysis on politics emailed to subscribers at 8 am, Monday to Friday.

Political Roundup is an in-depth column providing analysis on one topic of the day, especially through the aggregation of different perspectives. This is published regularly and emailed out freely to subscribers.

Political commentary in the media—we supply  regular interviews with journalists and broadcasters about issues of the day in New Zealand politics. This includes producing regular analysis pieces for other media, such as The Guardian.

Outreach, education and advocacy—we provide briefings, talks and advocacy about how politics works and how to improve democracy

Privacy policy

You can view our privacy policy at https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/site-info/privacy