Polarisation is eroding the institutional safeguards that once balanced power in modern democracies. As partisan lawmakers manipulate election rules and district boundaries, citizens are turning to new reforms, like Michigan’s model, to reclaim fairness and accountability.

Political parties are transforming judicial appointments into partisan weapons, actively eroding long-standing democratic safeguards. With courts becoming ideologically predictable and systems easily manipulated, basic democratic norms are increasingly at risk.

You believe in shared rules, but what happens when politicians ignore them? We are seeing a new crisis of democratic norms. Can our leaders save us? The shocking answer is NO. Find out why the defence of democracy must be taken off the politicians and given back the people!

Australian economist and CEO Nicholas Gruen recently launched the first of a twenty-episode series of short videos on sortition and citizens' assemblies. #GetLucky #Sortition #Lottocracy www.tegenverkiezingen.nl/gruen-komt-m...

We think of public goods as roads and bridges. But what if the most important public good today is information? This system is being compromised, and it's causing failures across our society. This is the pattern we must recognise.

The conversations around The Shared Centre is growing and we’d love for you to grow with us! 🌿 Come and visit us in our Discord community where you can connect with like-minded people, swap ideas, share updates, and get involved in our chat. 💬 Join the conversation using the link in our bio!

Soldiers in World War I invented secret codes of cooperation. They would not shoot at certain times, and a strange kind of chivalry grew in the middle of the trenches. By thinking about their own self-interest and that of the enemy, they found a way to entangle them.../

Did you know humans are worse than chimps at some simple cognitive tasks? Nicholas Gruen explains why: our brains are wired for social understanding, not raw problem-solving. We constantly track what others are thinking, predicting responses & adapting our behaviour - skills chimps can’t match.

The fourth video in The Shared Centre series launched today, and in it, Nicholas Gruen explores how we can rebuild the art of conversation and the benefits it could bring to civil society. Conversations build our lives.../ #conversations #thesharedcentre #jordanpeterson #CathyNewman #relationships

Is life a competition or a team game? 🎾 The truth is, it’s both & when self-interest takes over, everything breaks down. From politics to academia, we’ve lost the balance. To fix our institutions, we need to rebuild trust and put cooperation back at the centre. To find out more follow us here.

What Tennis Teaches Us About Fairness and Rules Are we competing, or are we cooperating? You might think the answer is obvious, but tennis shows us something deeper. Every rally depends on rules, fairness, and cooperation — without them, the game collapses. www.youtube.com/shorts/y1ehw...

It's amazing how fragile & miraculous human communication is, how our consciousness is vast yet our words are so thin. We are naturally selfish, each thinking we're the centre of our universe, yet somehow connect with others, cooperate, and build extraordinary societies.../

Humans: The primate that solves problems in groups Humans didn’t dominate the planet because we’re the smartest animal. We did it because we’re the only animal that can work together in large, complex teams. 1/2

An interesting video about a Citizen Assembly in Ireland - worth a watch and good to hear feedback from participants in the Assembly.

The Rule of Life Every Tennis Game Reveals Are these players competing or cooperating? It looks obvious, but the truth is deeper. Tennis is not just a battle of skill; it only works because of cooperation around shared rules.

We like to think intelligence is an individual thing; the truth is, real power comes from working together. Nicholas Gruen explains why the smartest humans aren’t solo geniuses, they’re the ones who build healthy relationships, collaborate effectively & orchestrate collective intelligence.

Those at the top often got there by gaming the system, not by doing a great job. Bureaucrats running business and government organisations build their careers, not their service. Executives target share price and bonuses, not long-term value.../

Politics used to be about ideas, debate & real policies. In this clip, Nicholas Gruen explains how politics has shifted from serious discussion to emotion-driven sound bites. JFK & Nixon debated policy for minutes; now the average presidential sound bite is 9 seconds. www.youtube.com/shorts/fchby...

Why do we turn democracy into endless conflict? In this clip Nicholas Gruen explains how politics is not only about our differences but also about our shared community. We face huge questions, like war, poverty, and marriage rights... 1/2

Our institutions only work when people honour their obligations and play fair. But today, they are being hijacked for the benefit of insiders, becoming unfair and dysfunctional. Lies, disinformation, and culture wars tearing our shared values apart.

Our institutions were meant to bring us together, not drive us apart. It’s time to design for trust, cooperation, and hope, just like Finbarr and Chris experienced. 🎥 See how one citizen assembly did it right. Watch now - link in bio! #BuildBridges #TheSharedCenter

What if democracy did not have to rely on elections at all? In this clip I explain how representation by sampling, like juries, creates a completely different kind of politics. Instead of endless competition and performance, ordinary people can directly represent the public interest.

Did you know that everything around you exists because people work together? Humans are the only species that can scale collaboration across entire habitats, from the equator to the Arctic. Every street, shop, and sign exists because of teamwork. www.youtube.com/shorts/43p-E...

Are you smarter than a chimp? You should be, but some chimps can count faster than you. So how did humans manage to build the Great Wall, the Taj Mahal, and cathedrals? Our secret wasn’t individual brain power. It was our ability to understand each other. www.youtube.com/shorts/WhQfX...

Why do the worst leaders keep winning? The truth is our institutions were built on the assumption that people are selfish. KPIs, stock options & votes are meant to align our interests with duty. In practice, the system rewards those who game it instead of those who serve. youtube.com/shorts/l6w47...

The first 3 videos in @ngruen.bsky.social's new YouTube series are now released, with original music by Brian Eno! Watch to discover why our leaders are so self-serving, how teamwork made us human, and how insiders are sabotaging our institutions #TheSharedCentre www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Mutual obligation – a super power or a tangled web? Nicholas Gruen @ngruen.bsky.social explores this and other conundrums in his upcoming YouTube series “The Shared Centre”. Launching on Thursday 16th October, share and let your friends know! Find out more here: linktr.ee/TheSharedCen...

The Shared Centre, a new YouTube series by @ngruen.bsky.social with original music by Brian Eno, launches in 4 days time, follow to find out more. #thecountdownison #thesharedcentre #comingsoon

Why do we complain that our leaders are just in it for themselves? We set it up that way. The builders of the modern world sought to harness self-interest to serve the public good. Adam Smith explained how competition in markets focused producers’ minds on their customers’ interests...

Sometimes policy & politics throw the baby out with the bathwater. So how can democracy's best parts build a better world? Join @ngruen.bsky.social on his YouTube series “The Shared Centre, Awakening Our Better Angels” to explore how citizens assemblies can displace systems that divide us.

The best things come to those that wait. Two years in the making & a few days til launch, The Shared Centre video series launches soon on Youtube. Join our mailing list, or follow, to find out more. #thesharedcentre #democracy #youtubeseries #comingsoon t.co/NXAl6vzn7f

Our institutions help us work together by entangling us in webs of mutual obligation. They orchestrate our superpower: our deep desire to do our bit so that others do the same for us. They awaken what Abraham Lincoln called "The Better Angels of our nature" #TheSharedCentre 1/3🧵

Mutual obligation – a super power or a tangled web? @ngruen.bsky.social explores this and other conundrums in his upcoming YouTube series “The Shared Centre”. Launching on Thursday 9th October, share and let your friends know! Find out more here: linktr.ee/TheSharedCen...

The Shared Centre, a new YouTube series by @ngruen.bsky.social , with original music by Brian Eno, launches in 4 days time, follow to find out more. #thecountdownison #thesharedcentre #comingsoon

Why do we so often complain that our leaders are just in it for themselves? We set it up that way. In #thesharedcentre YouTube series launching on Thursday 9th October @ngruen.bsky.social explores how we can build better institutions. #savethedate #thesharedcentre #comingsoon

Why has @ngruen.bsky.social created The Shared Centre? Because current democratic system ignore our dual nature - we strive to serve our own interest but we also want to do our bit. And we feel great when others reciprocate.

Are humans naturally good or selfish? The answer depends less on who we are and more on the institutions we build. Today, too many systems bring out our worst but we can design ones that awaken the best, the angels in our nature. This is what @ngruen.bsky.social will explore in #TheSharedCentre

Two years in the making, The Shared Centre sees Nicholas Gruen release 20 bite-sized YouTube videos on how we can build democracy and leadership around new institutional DNA. Launching soon; follow to learn more: youtube.com/shorts/KmeMd... #thesharedcentre #democracy #youtubeseries #comingsoon

The Shared Centre will see @ngruen.bsky.social releasing a book-sized idea explained in 20 bite-sized videos, exploring how we can rebuild democracy and leadership around new institutional DNA. Follow us as we prepare to launch! #thesharedcentre #comingsoon #democracy #leadership #politics

Our greatest strength? Shared purpose. We'll explore these ideas and more in The Shared Centre, a new YouTube series coming soon. Follow to find out more, or join our mailing list at linktr.ee/TheSharedCen... #ComingSoon #TheSharedCentre

Democracy. Where do we find the middle ground? youtu.be/K1yJfvYwz-Y #thesharedcentre #comingsoon linktr.ee/TheSharedCen...

New ideas that could change the way you think. Follow to find out more, or join our mailing list here: linktr.ee/TheSharedCen... #ComingSoon #TheSharedCentre