Miriam Lyons looks at the history of 'open government' in Australia and introduces the Reclaiming Democracy edition.

In this handy table the CPD lists the key problems facing our democracy, and outlines the current position of the incoming federal Labor government.

Australia has been a democratic innovator in the past and it can be again, writes Janette Hartz-Karp.

The freedom to speak means little without the freedom to know. John Hartigan challenges our new parliament to remember that the people who voted for them are entitled to know what they are doing.

Marcus Westbury argues that in a "me-too" era, the real debate is between authoritarianism and accountability.

Christian Kerr examines the misuse of government advertising on both sides of politics, and argues for regulation to stop governments from using taxpayers' money for political advantage.

Australia faces a choice: radically constrain political donations or slide towards an American-style 'big money' system, write Lee Rhiannon and Norman Thompson.

Jason Falinski asks how unseating an incumbent government became such a Herculean task.

Joan Staples describes how civil society lost its voice and argues that measuring the sector's economic value won't be enough to unsilence it.

Susan Ryan details the citizens' campaign for a Human Rights Act for Australia.

The recent federal election had a unique new element: hundreds of thousands of people had the tools to make their opinions known to politicians and the broader public. Brett Solomon talks about what groups like GetUp mean for the future of Australian democracy.

PR industry critic Bob Burton questions the effectiveness of the industry's attempts to regulate itself and argues that citizen journalists are best placed to uncover democracy's doctor deaths.