Democratic Resilience in Retreat

Australia’s Response to the 2002 Bali Bombings

Bibliographic Data

ID7353201
AuthorsJordan Mcswiney (0000-0003-4317-8012, University of Canberra, corresponding author)
Year2025
Publication date2025-08-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1478-9299 • E-ISSN: 1478-9302
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14789299251360661
OpenAlexW4413121490
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited68

This article takes democratic resilience as a means of exploring the quality of public dialogue following a violent extremist attack. Drawing on the normative theory of deliberative democracy, it argues that democratic resilience requires meaningful deliberations in the public sphere following extremist attacks. It focuses on the responses of political leaders and news media in Australia regarding the aftermath of the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia and asks whether and to what extent these responses fostered democratic resilience. A critical discourse analysis of these responses suggests that although the initial political discourse emphasised democratic values and multiculturalism, this rhetoric did not translate into practice. The initial messages of harmony and tolerance were lost in subsequent discourses of national unity, national sacrifice and collective responsibility, which emphasised an ‘us versus them’ narrative, and reinforced racial prejudices. As a result, the public sphere lacked the reflective and inclusive dialogue needed to foster democratic resilience

Deliberative democracy · Democracy · Multiculturalism · Narrative · Normative · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public sphere · Rhetoric · Sacrifice · Sociology · History · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Social Media and Politics

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