Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny

How did a Prime Minister who won one of the largest parliamentary majorities in British history find himself gone within two years — and what does his fate tell us about the limits of triangulation politics? Is Andy Burnham's victory a genuine realignment moment for British Labour, or is he inheriting a structurally broken state where no leader can succeed? With Reform UK on the march and the North-South divide wider than the gap between East and West Germany, can Burnham's vision of devolution, constitutional reform and a written constitution offer a way out — and what can Australian politics learn from Britain's decade of revolving-door prime ministers?

Political scientist Pat Leslie joins Mark and Maria to make sense of the collapse of the Starmer government and the rise of Andy Burnham.
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How long will the honeymoon last for One Nation? Can Pauline Hanson create a robust political party to be competitive at the next election? How do populist leaders like Trump, Farage, and Hanson convince the working class that their wealthy backers back them?

With One Nation rising in the polls, Special Correspondent at the Saturday Paper, Jason Koutsoukis joins Mark and Marija to discuss the threats to Labor and the Liberals and what they need to do to arrest the decline in the polls.
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Does the experience in the US, Germany, and Brazil reflect the Australian experience? How have institutional structures insulated centrist parties against new political threats? Can the rise of anger captured by the populists be effectively tested, and has Mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani shown the way?

Dr Rüçhan Kaya joins Mark and Marija to discuss the drift towards populism and nationalism in liberal democratic countries.
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Can Australia manage the tensions between our strategic relationship with China and the alliance with the United States? Does membership of AUKUS and the Quad damage our China relationship? How significantly are societal and economic issues - such as the role of women in decision making, aging population, corruption and the household registration system - impacting cohesion?

China expert, Graeme Smith joins Mark to discuss China, and our relationship.
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Have young voters lost faith in the major political parties and politics in general? Did the recent federal budget go far enough in addressing the generational wealth gap and what will it take for political parties to successfully engage young voters?

In this special classroom edition of Democracy Sausage, Dr Jill Sheppard joins the DS team and heads back to school (literally) to discuss the growing distrust in politics amongst young voters.
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