Madeleine is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. Her research focusses on informal participation in constitution-making.

Prior to beginning graduate studies, Madeleine worked in community engagement for local government and non-profit organisations, as well as in communications, community organising and campaigns for environmental and social justice.

Dissertation

Madeleine’s PhD research explores mass democracy in deliberative constitution-making. Recent constituent processes in Chile (2019 - ) and Iceland ( 2008 - ) reflect an international trend towards more participatory constitution-making. For deliberative democratic theory, these cases raise long-standing questions about the relationship between discursive law-making and mass democracy—realistically, how can all subjects be authors of the law? Madeleine’s research combines normative theory with empirical research, to investigate how deliberation in the public sphere shapes constitution-making in practice.

Conference Presentations

• Social movements as catalysts for deliberative constitution-making, Political Studies Association (PSA) Annual Conference. March 29, 2020. Virtual Conference.

• Constitution-making and the role of informal participation in the public sphere, Australian Political Studies Association (APSA) Annual Conference. November 30, 2023. Sydney.

PhD supervisors

• John Dryzek (Primary Supervisor)

• Selen Ercan (Secondary Supervisor)

• Ron Levy (Advisor)

Teaching

• Tutor, Political and Social Theory. 2020.

• Tutor, Co-Design and Deliberative Engagement. 2024.

Administration

• Co-Editor, Working Paper Series, Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance

Scholarships and Prizes

• Deliberative Democracy Scholarship, University of Canberra, 2020

• Percival Serle Prize, University of Melbourne, 2017

• Dwight Final Examination Prize, University of Melbourne, 2017