Humanities civics and citzenship + ww1

representative democracy

citizens vote in an elected member to represent them in parliament, at next election, citizens can vote a different member

liberal democracy

representatives work to protect and uphold the liberties of the citizens, such as freedom of speech, freedom to protest. many of these freedoms are part of the law and are included in the australian constitution. liberal democracy aims to limit the amount of power one person/organization can hold and aims to benefit society.

four key ideas of australian democracy

active and engaged citizens, inclusive society, free and franchise elections, rule of law for citizens and government

federal system

divides its power between central naitonal government and smaller regional or state governments

federal matters

medicare, defence, immigration, foreign business

state matters

roads, housing, prisons, public transport, police and ambulance

local matters

town planning, bin collection, local roads,

australian constitution

british act of parliament passed in 1900 to establish the nation of Australia in 1901
established the commonwealth parliament

australian constituition importance

the constituion is the supreme law of Australia, no other law can override it, any legal conflict in relation to it can be taken to the high court, defines what the federal government can and can’t make laws about

bicameral parliament

a parliament made up of two houses, house of reps and the senate

separation of powers

three independent arms so no group has power over the others
legislative (makes laws)
executive (puts laws into action, including prime minister and cabinet)
judicial (interprets and apllies law through courts)

cabinet

group of senior government members, led by the prime minister, meet to make major national policy changes and propose new bills

majority government

occurs when a party wins majority of votes more than half in the house of representatives

minority government

when no party wins more than half of the votes, leading to a hung parliament

coalition

a formal alliance between two or more political parties to form a government

referendum

a referendum is a compulsory national vote required to change wording of constituiton, needing a double majority to pass

double majority

first, a majority of all voters across the nation must vote yes (more than 50%), then a majority of voters in a majority of states (at least 4/6) must vote yes

rule of law

states that every person, including lawmakers and police are subject to and equal before the law

bill vs act

a ___ is a proposed law debated in parliament whereas a ___ is passed by both houses and recieves royal assent from the governor general.