What Will You Learn?
Have you ever wondered how our Australian democracy, government, and parliament works?
Have you ever asked questions like:
- How does the government make the decisions that affect our lives?
- Can I do something to influence this?
- Can they take away my freedoms?
- Where do those freedoms come from anyway?
- Why does nothing seem to really change, no matter which major party is in power?
- Do protests achieve anything?
- What about movements of the past like the civil rights movement?
- Are there similar movements of today?
- Why do some people turn to violence?
If you have asked yourself these questions then this course is for you right now.
The ‘Our Democracy’ citizenship upgrade course is valued at $87 BUT take advantage of our pre-election special and access the full course for only $35 to end of May 2022.
The course is the citizenship upgrade from the ‘Australian Democracy’ Senior Secondary course. This upgrade course is a-political. It encourages you to think strategically about social change. It will introduce you to factual material and concepts that you may find unfamiliar or confronting. That is intentional as it encourages students to think, evaluate and research for themselves. It proceeds on the assumption that …the truth will make you free.
Lesson one – Alfred to Federation looks at the British Isles in the ninth century as the source of the major trends that have shaped our constitutional and parliamentary system
Lesson two – Constitutional Freedoms – looks systematically at those constitutional freedoms we do and do not have under the British constitution and the written constitution of Australia.
Lesson three – Who is the Government – looks at the respective roles of parliament and of cabinet with reference to the European traditions of fascism and representative government.
Lesson four – Influencing Parliamentarians – is a practical guide to lobbying your representatives at local, State/Territory and National levels.
Lesson five – The Policy Cycle – Influencing the Public Service – examines the work of the public service and how you can influence public service policy formation.
Lesson six – Unseen Influencers – in this lesson we pull back the veil and have a hard look at some realities about who has influence ‘below the radar’ of public discussion.
Lesson seven – Major Trends – considers four major trends that are shaping long term social and economic policy in the Western World.
Lesson eight – Western World Mass Social Movements – provides an overview of mass social movement and considers what causes them to succeed or fail. Compares and contrasts movements. Introduces the ‘Hegelian dialectic’ model of social campaigning.
Lesson nine – Activism, Terrorism, and Social Change – explains why people become activists. Violent and non-violent strategies for social change are examined. The activist spectrum and ‘conflict of visions’ model of social conflict are explained.
