Democracy 2

Question 1

What are the four principles Australia’s government is based upon?

Answer 1

• rights and freedoms of individuals
• that laws reflect views and values of people
• they are accountable for people
• separation of power

Question 2

Rights and freedoms of individuals:

Answer 2

• otherwise known as liberal democracy
• no excessive or unnecessary laws
• they are laws that protect freedom of speech, expression and prohibits indecent/offensive manner in public.

Question 3

Laws that reflect views and values of the people:

Answer 3

• Referred to as representative government
• achieved by elections where the people vote who they want to represent them
• if elected and fail to make laws that represent their voters, they get replaced.
• federal elections every 3 years, state every 4

Question 4

Accountable for people:

Answer 4

• referred to as the principle of responsible government
• involve parliamentary question time (parliament members given the chance to question government policies)
• members within the parliament and opposition debate/argue
• any parliament member who acts dishonourable must resign.

Question 5

Separation of powers:

Answer 5

• Used to make sure the government doesn’t make/abuse laws beyond their power
• allows judges to solve disputes with no outside opinions
• involves executive, legislative and judicial powers
• keeping the judiciary independent allows the courts to act as a checking system.

Question 6

Legislative power:

Answer 6

The power to MAKE the law (parliament)

Question 7

Executive power:

Answer 7

Power to administer/ implement the law (the crown)

Question 8

Judicial power:

Answer 8

Apply the laws (the court)

Question 9

The structure of the commonwealth parliament:

Answer 9

• consists of the 2 houses (upper and lower) and the crown.
• upper house: senate
• lower house: House of Representatives

Question 10

House of Representatives:

Answer 10

• 150 members who live in one of 150 areas- these are called electorates.
• WA has 59 electorates which are determined in proportion to population size
• they represent views, values and desires: called the people’s house
• elected for a 3 year term.

Question 11

What’s the role of the House of Representatives?

Answer 11

• determines the government of the day ( the party that wins over 76 of the 150 electorates in the house)
• discuss ,debate, and scrutinise proposals for changing the commonwealth law

Question 12

The senate:

Answer 12

• consists of 76 members with 12 members being elected in each state
• senators elected for a 6 year term
• consists of equal members from each state regardless of proportion size.

Question 13

The main role of the senate:

Answer 13

• represents the interest of the states and prevents the commonwealth parliament from passing laws that discriminate their state
• initiate, discuss and review new laws. Since most laws are made in the lower house, the senate acts more as a “house of review”

Question 14

The crown:

Answer 14

• the queen, who is represented in Australia as the Governor General.
• the crown gives the final approval on behalf of the queen
• perform ceremonial duties, ANZAC, Olympic and commonwealth games
• have the power to sack the prime minister and end current parliament/ call a new federal election.

Question 15

What is the Australian constitution?

Answer 15

Outlines how the country is to be governed, created by the Hugh court of Australia.

Question 16

Purpose of the constitution?

Answer 16

• established the federal system of government (each state has powers to make laws but one federal parliament for laws for the whole country)
• created law making powers to the commonwealth government and outlined its structure
• created the high court of Australia (resolves disputes over the constitution)

Question 17

Specific powers of the commonwealth parliament in the constitution

Answer 17

• marriage and divorce
• currency
• social welfare benefits
• trade and commerce
• defence
• customs
• taxation

Question 18

Residual powers to the STATE parliaments

Answer 18

• adoption/surrogacy/ IVF
• childcare and education
• public transport
• water and electricity supply

Question 19

Exclusive powers control:

Answer 19

• currency
• defence
• customs an-d border protection

Question 20

Concurrent powers (working together):

Answer 20

• marriage and divorce
• taxation
• census data and statistics

Question 21

Changing the constitution

Answer 21

• cannot be altered by the government without the approval of the Australian people
• altered by the process of referendum

Question 22

The referendum process:

Answer 22

• a compulsory public vote must be approved by a double majority of votes
• approved by a majority of voters in at least four out of six states
• once approved the proposal must be given the royal assent

Question 23

Strengths of the referendum process

Answer 23

• requires the support of the public (government can’t just change it on their own agenda)
• a compulsory vote means it’s only changed if its receives large support
• must be passed by a double majority (support form most of the states)

Question 24

Problems with the referendum process

Answer 24

• voters may be disinterested/ uneducated on what they’re voting for
• proposals for change unlikely to succeed if both political parties don’t support
• the double majority provision is difficult to achieve
• often held at the same time as federal elections mean people are more concerned with that then the constitution.