Representation

Direct democracy

• every citizen is entitled to a seat in legislature to create laws that govern themselves.

• no elections or representatives

• incompatible with modern populations

Representative democracy

• citizens delegate authority to representatives who represent their values, beliefs and concerns to a representative law making assembly

• requires electoral system to choose representatives

Rights

• fundamental freedoms and entitlements empowering people to thrive and actively engage in self-governance

• civil: principles of equality and freedom from discrimination

• political: subset of civil rights, specific freedoms and entitlements enabling citizens to participate in government, culture and society

Australia’s representative democracy

• no fixed duration between elections but constitution mandates maximum 3 year parliament term

• constitution guarantees regular elections to ensure commonwealth parliament remains responsive to people’s will

• territory and state have their own electoral systems (e.g. WA has fixed four year term, government is Westminster)

• both federal and state governments are representative and embody majority rule principle (formed by democratically elected lower houses)

Types of representation (4)

1. delegate- representatives actively communicate to understand values and concerns, then convey these views directly in parliament without personal beliefs.

2. trustee- trust representatives to make best decisions on their values

3. partisan- electors choose representatives expected to follow and act in line with political party’s beliefs and directions

4. mirror- legislature composition mirrors society’s diversity e.g. gender ratio

Calling election

• PM has the authority to call election, advises GG (who has legal power to dissolve parliament in s28) to dissolve HOR within three years of its first session

• s57 double dissolution election when there’s legislative deadlock

House of representatives

• s28 and s24: max 3-year term for HOR and 150 electorates are allocated to states according to population→ equal representation of the people in the lower house.

• Every electorate selects single member, candidates from major, minor, micro parties and independents

Senate

• each state is a single multi member electorate where candidates contest the 6 available seats. candidates are selected by parties or run as independents.

• s57 double dissolution elections: all seats are contested

• s7: senators have 6-year tenure, rotating half senate elected every 3 years. ensures continuity and stability in governance (portion of previous parliament remains in current parliament)

• all states have 12 senators regardless of population + territories have 2 senators→ equal representation of the states (limits legislative impact of more populous states in lower house)

Electoral system

• mechanism for choosing parliamentary representatives by transforming electors’ choices into parliamentary representation

• Australia follows Westminster conventions (election convened to form parliament, majority party forms government

Fair electoral systems

• fair electoral systems must strengthen democracy’s operating principles (majority rule, equal political rights, freedoms and participation)

• and produce effective and stable government, accountable, diverse representatives.

Fairness

• all citizens have the right to vote free from intimidation or undue influence

• every elector’s vote has equal weight

• broad, transparent and inclusive candidate eligibility

• all political parties deserve equal treatment

Just

• majority of votes→ majority of seats

• safeguarding minority rights

• electoral regularity to ensure parliaments remain attuned to the people

• electoral frequency is sufficient to hold representatives accountable

Fair system criteria

1. Generate a robust, stable government mirroring majority will (majority of votes→ majority of seats)

2. Ensure representatives are accountable and maintain a strong connection with their electorate (electoral frequency and regularity)

3. Treat all electors, candidates and parties equitably (equal weight of votes, equal treatment of parties, right to vote free from intimidation/undue influence, wide electoral franchise)

4. Ensure representation spans society’s diverse spectrum (age, gender, values) (wide electoral franchise

Electorate

• geographical region comprising many citizens with the political right to elect representatives to speak and act on their behalf in the legislative assembly

• single-member electorates (single representative)

• multi-member electorates (multiple individuals are elected to represent interests of a single electorate)

• ideally equal number of citizens per electorate to ensure equality of the political right to vote.

Australian electoral compromise

• combination of majoritarian and proportional systems to create ideal electoral system in bicameral parliament by using a pattern of representation and power suited to house function

• used in all parliaments except unicameral QLD, NT, ACT and Tasmania

Compulsory voting

• PM bill led to CW Electoral act 1924: legislated compulsory voting for federal elections→ dramatic surge in voter turnout, consistently high and greater than other democracies (US, UK)

• Electoral act 1902 strengthened by amendments promoting right to vote and popular participation e.g. 1915 QLD mandates to attend polling stations, register to electoral roll and obtain ballot.

Compulsory voting advantages

• enhanced voter engagement: increased elector turnout→ deeper political engagement

• better informed citizenry promotes more knowledgeable populace aware of political rights

• strengthening democratic principles (majoirty rule, heightened political prarticipation)

• governments have increased legitimacy and authority, especially when implementing difficult decisions and laws, when elected by votes from all eligible electors

• mitigate and dilute electoral influence of fringe extremist ideologies

• drives policy centric political debate over sloganeering to mobilize supporters to vote

Disadvantages of compulsory voting

• impact of disinterested electors: inclusion of indifferent or uninformed electors’ skews results via donkey (formal, counted, impactful votes) and informal votes

• reduced freedom by compelling voting

Electoral commissions

• for integrity, administration and beneficiaries (political parties and parliamentarians) of elections should be separated

• every state has an electoral commission (local, state elections, referendums) e.g. WAEC

Australian electoral commission

• Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 establishes and entrusts the AEC, as an independent statutory authority, with management of electoral processes (manage electoral roll, hire staff, adjust electoral divisions for equal voting rights, count votes, declare results)

• upholds citizens’ right to vote (disinformation register for federal electoral events to safeguard against disinformation)

• impartiality, independence and objectivity ensure fair elections: politically neutral employees, prohibited to affiliate with any political party

• eliminate electoral malpractices undermining equality of political rights (e.g. gerrymandering/ manipulating electoral boundaries to disadvantage an opposing political party)

Equality of the right to vote: HOR

• Maintains one vote one value, equality of the right to vote by ensuring equal voting power of each citizen

• comply with CW electoral act 1918: electorates must have a population within 10 percent of the average for a state or territory

• redistribution occur as populations shift, and deviations occur e.g. HOR went from 151 to 150 seats according to census data after 2022 general election

Senate

malapportionment (discrepancy between population share and legislative seats) undermines one vote, one value and equal voting power through constitutionally required equal state representation (s7). outside of this, Australia does well in upholding one vote one value

WA Electoral Council Reforms (2021)

1. Tucker from the Daylight-Saving Party secured a legislative council (upper house) seat by leveraging GTV and preference harvesting to win a quota

2. Government proposed abolishing GTV to eliminate preference harvesting and rectify rural vote weighting (previously 3 urban and 3 regional electorates could select members for the legislative council, but rural electors had lower populations→ increased voting power → unfair weighting, not one vote one value)

3. Constitutional and Electoral Legislation amendment act 2021 reformed inequality between city and country electorates by making the entire state of WA a single 37-member electorate with every vote being perfectly equal.

4. Empowers electors to set preferences and emphasizes equal representation

5. Outcome- reduced quota = easier for minor parties and independents to win seats→ more diverse representation, harder for one party to dominate→ increased review capability