The Future of Democracy

Next date: Saturday, 23 May 2026 | 12:00 PM to 12:55 PM

The Future of Democracy series, hosted by Nick Bryant and Rosalind Dixon, is a collaboration between Sydney Writers’ Festival and the Resilient Democracy Lab at UNSW Sydney.

We used to take honourable institutions, humans rights protections and freedom of speech for granted. With autocratic regimes on the rise around the world, these things are no longer guaranteed, even as the the value and importance of democracy becomes stark.

In this discussion, journalist and writer Jon Sopel (UnPresidented: Politics, Pandemics and the Race that Trumped All Others) joins co-hosts Nick Bryant (The Forever War) and Rosalind Dixon (The People's Guide to the Australian Constitution) to consider how to withstand the forces eroding democracies worldwide, from the rule of tech broligarchs to the autocratic superpowers.

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Sydney Writers’ Festival is Australia’s largest celebration of books and ideas, bringing the world’s finest authors and esteemed thinkers together for insightful and exhilarating conversations and discussions.

This event is livestreamed direct from Sydney Writers Festival.

Read more about the Sydney Writers Festival.