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Politics and Law ATAR > Chapter 9 > Flashcards

Chapter 9 Flashcards

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1
Q

Who do we vote for?

A

People to represent us in parliament

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2
Q

why are the members elected in the federal parliament

A

To represent the people

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3
Q

what does the commonwealth do?

A

makes laws that applies to AUS on a whole

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4
Q

what do states and territories do

A

make laws for that state/territory

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5
Q

Electroal division

A
  • there are 151electoral divisions in Australia
  • a single area is represented by a single member of parliament
  • the MP must represent the views of their electroal division
  • there are on average 100,000 voters in each electorate (it is based on population)
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6
Q

purposes of democraic elections

A

to allow the people to vote for someone to represent them

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7
Q

what is compulsory voting

A
  • requires elector to attend a polling place and have their name crossed off the electoral role
  • under the commonwealth electoral act 1918 section 245
  • voter turnout from 58% in 1922 election to 91% at the 1925 election
  • if you don’t vote you recieve a fine
  • 2022 vote - 89% of people voted
  • forces people to vote
  • other countries like greece, singapore
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8
Q

what is an election writ

A

a writ issued ordering the holding of an election by the govonor general

  • for HOR it is GG - section 32
  • governor of states issue - for senate elections - section 12
  • commenses the election process
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9
Q

what is vote wastage

A

when a vote does not contribute to determining the winning candidate. large numbers of voters feel disenfranchised because the candidate they voted for did not win

does not uphold the principle of a liberal democracy

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10
Q

what is the Austrlian electoral compromise

A
  • different voting systems by using preferential voting to elect the lower house and by using proportional voting to elect the upper house
  • creates strong majorities in lower house and diverse senate which enables them to better reflect the broader community
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11
Q

explain and give examples of the 2016 voting reforms and previous voting system

A
  • prior to 2016 voters had the choice of 1. voting for one party above the line or 2. numbering every box below the line for the senate

problems
- above the line -> partys decided through a group voting ticket where each vote will go
- if your vote did not go to vote a party, it would be passed through deals behind the scenes. candidates got elected when there is not link
- almost no one voted below the line -> if they did they made an error and increased the risk of an informal vote
- the system was easily manipulated and encouraged douzens of micro parties from running for election
- microparties worked together to create a complicated network to pool their votes

reform
- turnbull gov introfuced legislation in 2016 to reform senate voting -> above the line is an optional preferential voting (number at least 6 partys)
- below the line (number at least 12 candidates)
- no micro party was elected in the 2016 election

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12
Q

Types of voting systems

A
  • first past the post
  • preferential voting
  • proportional voting
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13
Q

what is first past the post

voting types

A
  • The winner is the candidate who recieves the highest number of votes
  • the ballot paper lists the candidates and voters mark the candidate they want to win
  • the winner can have the highest amount of votes but not majority of the votes therefore it does not consider how strongly voters who did not vote for the winner felt about the candidate
  • it does not capture how the electorate feels about the candidate
  • e.g. used in USA, UK and in AUS in local gov elections
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14
Q

advantages and disadvantages of first past the post voting

A

advantages
- simple
- reduces the number of informal votes
- easy to count
- encourages stable government due to creating strong majorities -> helps to govern

disadvantages
- vote wastage -> when a vote does not contribute to determining the winning candidate -> large numbers of voters feel disenfranchises becasue the candidate they voted for did not win
- distorts the size of the winners bonus -> (the gap between the amount of votes a candidate recieved and the proportion of the electorare won -> e.g. recieved 22% of the vote but won 100%
- possibility for “vote splitting” -> voters split votes amongst similar candidates and another candidate benefits
- no clear mandate to rule -> gov may win a clear majority in the parliament without gaining majority overall

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15
Q

what is preferential voting

A
  • the ballot paper lists the candidates who have been randomy selected
  • elector numbers candidates in order of preference
  • to win -> absolute majority is needed (50% of votes + 1)
  • it captures the wishes of the elector, a lot of data is gathered and can reflect the majoritys wishes
    1. candidate lists preference
    2. eliminate candidate with lowest votes - votes are exhausted
    3. further scrutinise and see who they wanted next
    4. looks at 2nd preference and re assigns the vote to that candidate
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16
Q

advanatges and disadvantages of preferential voting

A

advantages
- majority preffered candidate
- vote wastage reduced
- vote splitting eliminated
- produces majority governments due to the winners bonus

disadvantages
- timely
- complex
- winners margin
- high levels of informal votes - 3.2% in curtin in the previous election

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17
Q

what is proportional voting

A
  • works in the principle that the percentage of votes the party gets is roughly equal to the percentage of seats they get in parliament
  • used for senate
  • e.g. if 100 members in parliament and a party wins 10%, they get 10 seats.

complex
- calculate a quota
- voting
- transfer surplus votes
- exclusion of candidates and transfer of votes
- declar winners

18
Q

below the line

A
  • more control
  • number 12 candidates
  • “candidate vote”
  • choosing the candidates
19
Q

above the line

A
  • voting for a political party only
  • “ticket vote”
  • the party will declare which of its candidates will get your vote
20
Q

advantages and disadvantages of proportional voting

A

advantages
- encourages more political participation
- easier for a smaller party to obtain a quota than a majority e.g. greens vote of 12%
- chamber is more reflective of the people
- opportunity for diversity
- reduces a “hung” senate -> better protects rights of minorities and promotes liberal democracy
- strengthens review of senate

disadvantages
- above the line -> not as representative given electors give their voting power to the party
- impossible to understand vote vount
- can cause legislative dead lock with multiple parties in the senate -> nothing can be done, too many voices

21
Q

double dissolution election

A
  • 7 have occured in AUS
  • deadlock provision
  • it whipes the senate clean if its knocking back on legislation
  • S57 of constitution
  • useful opportunity for gov to secure a majority in the senate
22
Q

ordinary election

A
  • 151 seats up for election in the HOR and 6 senators from each state and 2 from each territory (40 senators out of 76) -> senate rotation system -> encourages mentorship
23
Q

kate chaney

use for representation question

A

Is more of trustee and has many community forums to determine the peoples views and also fits into delegate

24
Q

delegate - give an example of someone

type of representation

A

represents the majority of the electorates views and maekes decisions based on voters - for example kate chaney

25
Q

trustee

type of representation

A

voters trust the judgement of the representative and allow them to make decisions on their behalf, voters expect them to take responsibility for their decisions

26
Q

partisan

type of representation

A

acts based on policy that is developed by the party machine (party)

27
Q

mirror

type of representation

A

parliament to reflect the composition of society i.e 50/50 men and women, minority ackgrouds, indigenous etc

28
Q

ricky muir

add in as an example for the 2016 electoral reform

A

Ricky Muir won a senate seat representing the motoring enthusiasts party in victoria at the 2013 election. he won on a low record primary vote pf 0.51 percent of the primary vote. Ricky achieved the quota of 14.3 percent from 23 group voing ticket party preferences flowing to him arranged by the “preference whisperer” glenn druery.

29
Q

+ve and -ve of electoral system

A
30
Q

partisian senate

A

always been a partisan house and has never been able to effectilvy protect the interests of the states

31
Q

Pros of compulsury voting

A
  • increases political participation
  • creates a more representative government
  • moderates politics
  • increases focus on issues and policies
32
Q

cons of compulsory voting

A
  • increaed informal votes
  • offensive to liberal groups -> people who believe the gov should not control
  • creation of “safe seats” which parties may ignore knowing they will win them
33
Q

Donkey vote

A

listing the votes from 1,2,3,4,5….

34
Q

senate rotation

A
  • during an election electors vote for 6 senators from each state and 2 from each territory (40 senators out of the 76)
  • maintaining half the senators ensures consistency and encourages mentorship in the parliament
35
Q

ballot paper

A

lists the candidates and voters mark the candidate who they want to represent them. FPTP - only 1
Preferential voting - order of preference

36
Q

section 7 in the constitution - the senate

A

the senate shall be compromised of senators for each state, directly choses by the people of the state, voting until the parliament other wise provides, as one electorate

37
Q

section 24 in the constitution - constitution of house of representatives

A

the HOR shall be composed of members directly chosen by the people of the commonwealth

38
Q

section 57 - disagreement between the houses

double dissolution election

A

if the house of reps passes any proposed law, and the senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with ammendments to which the HOR will not agree and if after 3 months the HOR can not pass or makes ammendments, the GG may dissolve the senate and the HOR simultaneously

39
Q

Dai Lee

A

secured a seat, actively involed with community - delegate representation

40
Q

fatima payman

add in when talking about types of representations

A

left the party because she didn’t agree with how the labor party operated - partisan
- date
- policy she disagrees with

41
Q

party allegiance

A

electors do not have a close relationship or knowlege of their

Politics and Law ATAR (8 decks)

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