Chapter Nine

Question 1

Define Direct Democracy

Answer 1

Direct democracy is when each citizen directly participates in politics by voting for legislation.

Question 2

Define Representative Democracy

Answer 2

Representative democracy is when citizens don’t directly act in politics, but elect representatives to represent their interests in politics and vote on legislation.

Question 3

Define Indirect Democracy

Answer 3

Democracy where citizens rights are equally demonstrated through other means then direct democracy.

Question 4

Define Election

Answer 4

The means for a citizen to express their will in a democracy through an individual vote.

Question 5

Define Mandate

Answer 5

The right for a government to rule or hold executive power, in a democracy this is granted by having the support from the majority of citizens.

Question 6

Define Accountability

Answer 6

The idea that elected government officials should be held to account by society for their elections.

Question 7

Define Electoral Procedures

Answer 7

The formal actions that are needed before and during the election, such as determining electoral boundaries and counting up the votes.

Question 8

Define Electoral Systems

Answer 8

This refers to the systems in place that dictate what kind of electoral procedures are carried out, such as the preference voting system, secret ballot and first past the post voting.

Question 9

Define Free and Equal Vote

Answer 9

This refers to the electoral principle that every citizen should have the right to vote and that their vote should account for the same amount of representation to the vote of every other citizen.

Question 10

Define Non-Coerced Vote

Answer 10

A persons vote should not be influence by threats from any other individual on organisation, this was improved with the introduction of the secret ballot box.

Question 11

Define One Vote one Person

Answer 11

The idea that every individual should be entitled to one single vote, regardless of the amount of property they own in multiple electorates.

Question 12

Define One Vote one Value

Answer 12

The idea that every individual vote should be equal to the same amount of representation in government.

Question 13

Define Free and Open access to information

Answer 13

In order to make a democratically valid vote, every citizen needs to be aware of all the options they have to vote for.

Question 14

Define Democratic Participation

Answer 14

The idea that every citizen should have the opportunity to stand for election, elections must provide genuine choice.

Question 15

Define Regular, relatively frequent elections

Answer 15

Elections must be held frequently and in some sort of pattern, so that the people frequently get a chance to hold politicians to account and so that governments are forced to call elections.

Question 16

Define Independent Electoral Commission

Answer 16

A vital element to having free democratic elections, elections must be administered by a neutral third party. This reduces the chance of corruption that might occur when the government or other officials manage electoral boundaries and counting votes. Having the government preside over elections generally means that the government is not considered a democracy.

Question 17

Define Gerrymandering

Answer 17

Gerrymandering is a trick that can be abused by political parties when drawing electoral boundaries. It involved studying the voter base in each geographic area and manipulating electoral boundaries to include particular voters so that a majority can be won in more electorates, even when there may be less voters originally for that political party. In Australia electoral boundaries are all drawn by the electoral commission so the corruption risk from Gerrymandering is very low, however in a country like the US the parties are able to draw some electoral divisions which leads to issues of corruption and misrepresentation.

Question 18

Define Malapportionment

Answer 18

Malapportioned occurs when the number of voters in different electoral divisions is unequal, and therefore votes from people in some electorates are worth more than votes from people in other electorates. For example, malapportionment exists in the Senate voting system since each state elects an equal number of senators but vary in population. This means that Tasmania which has a voter base of 350,000 allows voters to have much greater representation in the senate compared to New South Wales voter base of 4.7 million.

Question 19

Define Limited Franchise

Answer 19

Limited franchise means that part of the people within a society are restricted from voting or participating in government elections.

Question 20

Define Plural or Multiple Voting

Answer 20

Plural voting is a system that allows people to submit multiple votes in one election, usually per property someone owns in different electorates.

Question 21

Define Secret Ballot

Answer 21

The Australian innovation introduced in 1856, which allowed for voters to submit their votes in private without others seeing.

Question 22

Define Disenfranchisement

Answer 22

The act of not enfranchising a certain person or group, for example indigenous Australians were disenfranchised until 1962.

Question 23

Define Qualifications of Candidates

Answer 23

To be a candidate for an Australian federal election, you must not be a citizen of any foreign country, not be convicted of a criminal sentence longer than one year, not be bankrupt and not a government employee or contractor (i.e. someone that receives a salary from the government.

Question 24

Define Fixed Terms

Answer 24

Terms for elections that are fixed and cannot be altered, the election must fall on the same date every amount of years.

Question 25

Define Maximum Term

Answer 25

Election terms that have a maximum amount of time that they can last, but no minimum. Therefore, the government can call early elections.

Question 26

Define Compulsory Voting

Answer 26

A system in which voting is enforced for all those who are enfranchised.

Question 27

Define Electoral Writ

Answer 27

A legal document prepared by the governor general or governor that is issued to the electoral commission with permission and instruction to carry out an election.

Question 28

Define Close of Rolls

Answer 28

After the declaration of the writ, voters have seven days to register in the electoral roll before the rolls close.

Question 29

Define Acceptance of Nominations

Answer 29

Nominees for the election have a specified time in which they must put their nomination forward between the time of the writ and the begging of the election. They must pay a deposit which will be returned to them if they achieve more than 4% of the first preference vote.

Question 30

Define Registration of Political Parties

Answer 30

The party name appears next to the name of any candidate. If there is discrepancy among party names, the electoral commission decides on who will get the claim to a certain name.

Question 31

Define Group Voting Ticket

Answer 31

This is when the party sets out a series of preferences for their ideal voter, so if someone wants to put a one next to a specific party then the party will choose all their other preference vote. This existed in the federal senate voting system up until 2013, and still exists in WA elections for the upper house.

Question 32

Define Polling

Answer 32

On voting day, most citizens will have to go to a polling place usually open between 8:00am-6:00pm where they can cast their vote. This is usually done in the electorate where they live, however people can vote in any electorate they want which is called an absentee vote.

Question 33

Define Formal Vote

Answer 33

A formal vote is a vote that has been completed correctly and can be counted. In a federal election for the lower house, a voter needs to number all boxes with sequential numbers for the vote to be considered formal.

Question 34

Define Informal Vote

Answer 34

A vote is considered informal when it has not been completed correctly and cannot be counted. Votes are informal if they voter has been identified, ticks or crosses have been used or the boxes have been filled out incorrectly. There is a certain degree of lee way with leaving boxes blank, if the other numbers have been filled out correctly then the voters first few preferences can be counted.

Question 35

Define Counting and Scrutiny of Votes

Answer 35

Immediately after 6pm votes are counted by members of the electoral commission. Often there will be a scrutineer present who looks over the officials shoulder and judges the counters decisions. Any discrepancy will be settled by the relevant Returning officer or if need be the Electoral Commissioner.

Question 36

Define Declaration of the Pole

Answer 36

The returning officer must submit the outcome of the votes within 90 days of the polling date, which leaves plenty of time to count postal and absentee votes and also recount if necessary.

Question 37

Define Court of Disputed Returns

Answer 37

If any person wants to challenge the bipartisanship of the electoral commission they are able to through the court of disputed returns, however they must compensate themselves for the legal cost.

Question 38

Define Political Donations

Answer 38

A political donation is an allotment of money donated to a political party from and company, group or individual. By federal law if the amount is over $10 000 then the identity of the donner must be disclosed.

Question 39

Define Third Party Spending

Answer 39

Any political advertising or other spending that is made by an individual or group that is not part of a political party.

Question 40

Define Constituency

Answer 40

The people that belong to any electorate or electoral division.

Question 41

Define Electoral/majority Mandate

Answer 41

The idea that any party who gains the majority of seats in the lower house has the backing of the majority of society and therefore has a mandate to form government and an executive.

Question 42

Define Balance of Power Mandate

Answer 42

The mandate that many senators claim that have. It claims that the preferential voting system in the senate represents minority groups and therefore the senate’s role is to check and review all legislation passed by the government in the lower house. This is where the senate claim their right to have an active part in politics.

Question 43

Define Free/conscience vote

Answer 43

This allows members of parliament to vote under their own whim instead of voting on party lines.

Question 44

Define Political Party

Answer 44

A group of people with similar political ideals that come together to influence government and represent their interests.

Question 45

Define Major Party

Answer 45

A party that has the capability to form government.

Question 46

Define Minor Parties

Answer 46

Very small parties, often having only one or two seats, that pressure the bigger political parties or offer deals to swing the majority in the upper house.

Question 47

Define Micro Parties

Answer 47

Very small parties, often having only one or two seats, that pressure the bigger political parties or offer deals to swing the majority in the upper house.

Question 48

Define Pressure Group

Answer 48

An organised group of people who share common beliefs that take action to have a direct influence on public policy. Specific example include Green Peace and Black lives matter in the US.

Question 49

Explain why elections are considered important in a democracy

Answer 49

Elections are essential to any democracy for a number of reasons. It provides a way for every single citizen to have an active role in government and it represents the peoples will equally through a single vote. They also ensure that any government has a mandate and that they can ultimately be held accountable by the people within a society. The laws that governments pass are then truly what the majority of the people within a society want (in theory). A state that does not have true democratic elections cannot be viewed as a true democracy.

Question 50

List some functions of democratic elections and explain how they satisfy the principles of a liberal democracy

Answer 50

Elections provide a peaceful means for political change, ensure that the people within a democracy have choice, provide elected governments with a legitimate mandate, create accountability between the people and their chosen representatives and ensure that citizens are responsible for upholding the law since they are the ones that made it. All of these functions are key to a liberal democracy, elections provide a chain of accountability which means that all government officials are always accountable by the people and cannot act irresponsibly or corruptly. It also reinforces principles of political participation and majority rule, since every person gets one vote which accounts for the same amount of political representation and gives all people an active role in government. It also strengthens the rule of law within a society, since the people elect representatives to make laws for them so they are then expected to follow those laws since they are the ones who created them.

Question 51

List some advantages and disadvantages of compulsory voting

Answer 51

Advantages
• Governments can more strongly represent their people and have a much more effective mandate
• It leads to a more politically educated population since citizens are motivated to justify their vote with research
• Parties do not need to focus on getting people to actually vote in a campaign, they can focus on more important issues such as policy
Disadvantages
• Voluntary voting would decrease the number of informal and casual votes which would give a more accurate representation of a party’s support
• Politicians would need to be more active in their campaign which would decrease the margin in safe seats
• Voting should be considered a right, but to abstain should also be made a right

Question 52

Identify some key roles of political parties

Answer 52

• Parties draw people together with similar political interests and therefore represent in government a broad voter base
• They provide an avenue for which citizens can become involved in politics
• Political parties provide the structural framework from which parliament operates, such as question time where the opposition questions government

Question 53

Identify key roles of pressure groups

Answer 53

• They pressure political parties in parliament to adopt their perspective and form legislation that conforms with their ideals
• They provide a way that minorities can be represented in society
• It is a way for citizens to become actively involved in politics without joining a political party

Question 54

Define Assess the extent to which pressure groups have an impact on politics in Australia

Answer 54

Pressure groups can have a large impact on the electoral process, they can easily gain large amounts of members and they are often a focus of media attention. For example, in the 2016 election the pressure group ‘Getup’ targeted 12 far right politicians with the intention of removing them from their seat. Eight of these targeted members were removed after the election, and many media sources have attributed a large part of this success to Getups extensive advertising campaign. Many people say that the amount that pressure groups can influence politics is not valid, owing to the reason that because of media coverage they can often be made out to appear a lot larger than they actually are.

Question 55

What is the criteria for voting in a WA state election?

Answer 55

To vote in a WA state election, you must be:
• Over 18
• A citizen of Australia
• A listed address in an electorate for more than a week
• Not be currently serving a prison sentence longer than three years
• Not be charged with treason
• Not be of unsound mind
• Not be permanently living overseas

Question 56

What is the criteria for standing as a candidate in the WA state election?

Answer 56

To stand for a spot in the WA state election, you must be:
• Living in Australia and have lived for more than one year
• Not be bankrupt
• Not be charged with a criminal offence of more than five years
• Not be a member of any other parliament
• Not be getting paid by the government

Question 57

Explain how voting can take place outside the regular polling places

Answer 57

People who are overseas can make postal votes up to the day before and election or if that is not possible people can vote at any Australian embassy around the world. It also possible to vote before an election if you are going overseas at a pre-polling place. In the weeks leading up to an election mobile polling booths go around to hospitals and other places where people cannot go to a polling place due to them being sick or imprisoned.

Question 58

Outline some changes to electoral law introduced by the Howard government

Answer 58

The Howard government introduced a number of changes in its last two terms to do with electoral law, the most significant of which was to increase the amount a political donation could be made anonymously from $1500 to $10 000. The franchise of prisoners was also limited, the maximum sentence in which a prisoner could still vote was reduced from five years to two, and later the bill was further amended to restrict all prisoners from voting. This measure was later defeated in the high court though in the case of Roach v Electoral Commissioner (2006). Other measures included no longer permitting people to enter on the electoral role the week after an election is announced, and forcing people who were trying to get on the role to show identification.

Question 59

Elaborate on the controversy regarding political donations and suggest a system in which this issue could be remedied

Answer 59

Electoral campaigns are extremely expensive for all political parties and independents; enormous amounts of money are poured into advertising campaigns and fees for applying as a candidate in a federal election are also very expensive. For example, in the 2016 the ALP spent xxx and the Liberal party spend xxx. The major political parties receive approximately 80% of their revenue from political donations, which can lead to further corruption within the political system. Corporations and unions make up the bulk of these donations which gives these institutions and unfair amount of influence on democratic elections. For instance, the liberal party have been in recent controversy because they offered people who were willing to pay a fee tickets to dinners where politicians would be seated next to ticket holders. These people would then be able to discuss issues they want with the politicians, which gives these people more political participation then people who do not have enough disposable income to purchase these kinds of tickets. A proposed way of dealing with this issue is to expand on the pre-existing rebate system for elections. At the moment, candidates who received more than 4% of the first preference vote receive a rebate of $2.63 for each vote they receive. This money then goes to cover debts or to fund the next election campaign. This system could be expanded borrowing principles that exist within the Canadian political system, such as setting a cap on political donations each year and restricting overseas donations or donations from corporations and unions. The rebate could then be increased, which would shift the proportion of party income from 20% government funded to the 80% government funding that exists within Canada. This system reduced the amount of influence corporations, unions and overseas donors have on the electoral process in Australia.

Question 60

Outline and Elaborate on the four models of representation

Answer 60

Representatives and Delegates
• This model is that members have been elected by their electorate, and that because of this they should represent the views that their electorate hold not their own.
Representatives as Trustees
• This model is based on the idea that the people within an electorate voted for the member because they have faith in their ability to judge decisions, and therefore the member should use their own judgment to vote in parliament.
Representatives Partisans
• This model is based on the idea that people within an electorate vote for a person that represents their social group, and that parliament is a competition between these social groups. Members therefore vote strictly on party lines to represent their electorates majority social group.
Mirror Representations
• This theory focuses on the idea that the population of a society is a mix of different genders, races and ethnicities and that parliament should provide a mirror of these minority groups.

Question 61

Discuss why the House of representatives is viewed as the ‘Peoples House’

Answer 61

The house of representatives was created in the constitution as the people house, because its aim was to reflect the will of the people. Electorates across the nation contain the same number of people and thus represent and equal proportion of society, so that party that wins the most number of seats can claim to represent the wish of the people. Moreover, people within the electorate have a close relationship with their associated member and they can hold them directly accountable for their ability to represent their interests the next time an election is held.

Question 62

Explain how the Government has a mandate in the lower house

Answer 62

In the lower house a party must win the majority of seats to form government, so when a party is able to form government they can claim a mandate in the sense that they represent the wishes of the majority of Australians. However, in order to encourage voters to vote for them, parties will issue a set of policies known as their party platform that tell people how they would run government if elected. The people vote for these parties with the expectation that they will follow through on their party platform, so a mandate can only be maintained if a party sticks to its party platform outlined during the election.

Question 63

Which house of parliament is a better representation of the Australian people and why?

Answer 63

I would argue whilst both houses have their advantages and disadvantages in terms of representation, the senate is the more representative of the two.
Pros of the Senate:
• The preferential voting system in the senate means that minority groups are more accurately represented, for instance if around 20% of the people in all electorates in the lower house vote for the greens they will not win many seats overall, however if 20% of people in every state vote for the greens in the senate then it is more likely that roughly 20% of the seats in the senate will be made of greens senators.
• The senate because of this more accurately reflects a mirror representation of Australian society
Cons of the Senate:
• There still exists a serious problem of malapportionment in the senate, since each state has 12 senators but the population of some states are significantly smaller than other states. This means that the voices of people in states such as Tasmania are more greatly heard in the senate then peoples voices in the state of New South Wales.
• Parties select a number of senators to run for each state and the people have very little connection with senators that they vote for. This increases the amount the people can hold senators to account, since strictly speaking the senators are representing the state and they are not representing a specific geographic area.
Pros of the Lower House
• There exists a much larger amount of accountability between the people in an electorate and their chosen member
Cons of the Lower House
• Voting within just electorates limits the voice of minorities
• Mirror representation is not very well achieved; half of the population is female but in 2013 only 28% of the lower house was female

Question 64

Contrast the Ability of the Upper and Lower house to act as a forum for political debate

Answer 64

The Senate is much more able to act as a forum for political debate then the lower house for a few key reasons.
Disadvantages of Debate in the Lower House
• The government always has a majority in the lower house, so no matter how much debate occurs bills will always be passed through. This means people are less inclined to waste time debating when there is no point.
• Other members are given less time to talk in the lower house, almost all of the time across all the sitting days is dedicated to members of the government
• The major parties make their members vote along party lines, so the amount of diversity in viewpoints is mostly restricted to the major leaders of each party
• In procedures such as question time where the opposition asks the government questions about policy, the government is just completely able to dodge their questions.
Advantages of Debate in the Upper House
• The government does often not have a majority in the upper house, which means that even though the president of the upper house is nominated by the government they still don’t have the numbers to pass bills through by themselves. This means that debate is necessary for the government to be able to negotiate with the backbench so it can occur more often
• Because the government does not have a majority, more time is allocated to members of other parties and the opposition.
• The formality in the senate is quite lower compared to the lower house and that gives more time for senators to speak and more opportunities for other senators to speak

Question 65

How can an individual senator influence the legislative agenda?

Answer 65

There are various standing committees that exist within the senate and are focused on one specific area of policy, and senators can apply and enter any one of these committees fairly easily. Committees have the power to check and review legislation put forward by the government by launching public inquiries into any issues of legislation, having power to demand evidence from government officials and subpoena witnesses and demand documents. For example, the 2016 budget will soon be going through the upper house and the government will have to negotiate with crossbenchers in order to pass the bill through the senate. Crossbenchers such as One Nation senators, Greens senators and Nick Xenophon team senators through legislation committees will be able to negotiate with the government put policy that they want into the budget.