21.2 Australia's political system Flashcards
Political system
a set of principles, processes and laws that determine the way a country is run, a structure of government, made up of:
Representative democracy
Liberal democracy
Constitutional monarchy
Federal Parliamentary system
Constitutional monarchy
a political system which a monarch (queen or king) is the head of state and a parliament makes laws under the terms of a constitution, any laws made by parliament must have approval from the reigning monarch of England
Royal assent
the formal signing and approval by the governor-general at the Commonwealth level , or governor at State level for a bill to become law
Governor general
is appointed by the queen, on the advice of the PM, to represent her in the federal parliament. Performs duties like appointing ministers and judges and giving approval on behalf of the queen for bills
Bills
proposed laws that have not yet been passed by both house of parliament
Australian constitution
A document that describes the rules, laws, that govern Australia; the constitution defines the structure of government in Australia, and also the rights of citizens
Federal parliamentary system
a political system that represent the people of Australia, have the responsibility to make or change laws apply to the whole Australia, is shared by one federal parliament, six state and 2 territories parliaments and scrutinizes the actions of gov and the place where gov is formed
Structure is:
Queen(gov general)
Two houses
MP
individuals who have been elected by the people to represent their views and values in parliament
The lower house
Called the House of Representatives, divided in 151 geographical areas known as electoral divisions(seats) each division has roughly 100,000 voters, each electoral division elect one representative to be a member in the lower house to represent the views and values of all Australians
‘The people’s house’
Political party
a group of people with similar views and ideas about how a country, state or territory should be governed
Coalition
Two or more political parties join together in an attempt to win an election and form government
Absolute majority
requirements of a candidate or a political party to win over half the votes to be declared winner of electoral division or to form government. At least 76 of the 151 seats in lower house must be won the the same party or coalition
PM
the leader of the winning political party that forms the government, takes critical role in the debate, development and implementation of government policies that shapes Australia
Opposition
the second largest political party or coalition of parties. Hold the government accountable for its actions, can be done by questioning and scrutinizing their actions.
The upper house
Called the Senate, each state is represented by 12 senators, territories represented by 2 senators each. 76 elected in total. Senators are individuals elected to the upper house of the parliament. They often belong to political party, focus on views of their political party rather than interest of their state
Federal parliament consists two houses as the Senate is to act as a ‘house of review”, any bills proposed by the lower house are reviewed by the Senate.
