Scott Stephens

1 week ago | abc.net.au | Scott Stephens |Sinead Lee

In 2000, after a hotly contested American election and amid an equally contested vote count, outgoing US President Bill Clinton famously remarked to a pool of reporters, “The American people have now spoken, but it’s going to take a little while to determine exactly what they said.”In this particular case, what was at issue is whether Democratic candidate Al Gore or Republican candidate George W. Bush won the state of Florida, and therefore the election.

2 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Scott Stephens |Sinead Lee

Democracy is often lauded as a peculiarly just and effective form of government — one that enjoys the benefits that flow from twin virtues of popular engagement and political accountability. And yet the effectiveness and resilience of democratic politics depends on the trust voters have in political institutions.

3 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Scott Stephens |Sinead Lee

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first federal election to be held in Australia after the passage of Senator Herbert Payne’s private member’s bill, which made voting compulsory. In 1922, only 57.95 per cent of registered voters turned out. Payne’s home state of Tasmania had the poorest showing (45.93 per cent), whereas Queensland — where voting in state elections had been compulsory since 1914 — saw the highest (82.66 per cent).

4 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Scott Stephens |Amanda Roberts

If there is ever a time when politicians should be able to expect a fair share of the public’s attention, it’s during an election campaign. After all, this triennial event is when they can demonstrate to the Australian public that they’ve been attentive to their aspirations and concerns for the future, and have developed a series of policies able to address those hopes and fears.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Scott Stephens |Sinead Lee

This is the second of two episodes recorded in front of a live audience as part of a special “Week with Students”, a collaboration between Radio National and ABC Education. Shortly after OpenAI made its powerful generative AI tool, ChatGPT, available to the public in October 2023, there was a torrent of reports forecasting the “end of the essay” or warning that the advent of advanced chatbots would sound the death knell of academic integrity.