Key Terms and Concepts

• Liberal democracy: individual freedoms and rights are recognised and protected and it emphasises the separation of powers

• Representative democracy: When the citizens elect people to represent them in the legislative branch

• Constitutional monarchy: A political system with a monarch, and their authority and powers are defined by the constitution

• Socialism: A left wing political ideology which revolves around the belief that the government should own production and wealth on the people’s behalf

• Fascism: A right wing political ideology which usually has a dictatorial leader and their severe beliefs of nationalism, authoritarianism and anti-democracy

• Authoritarianism: A system of government characterised by a strong central government and limited democratic rights and freedoms.

• Theocracy: A governmental system that centres religious beliefs

• Ideology: A set of values and beliefs a group of people have in common regarding how the world should be organised politically

• Political power: The use of a state’s internal political machinery to influence citizen’s actions. Ex. legislation, executive orders

• Authority: The power of a person or group over other people in a political power context

• Legitimacy: When political power is widely accepted by the population, typically through democratic means

• Federalism: A government system where law making powers are separated between a national/central government and state/regional governments

• Separation of powers: The three branches of government (parliament, executive and judiciary) should be kept separate from each other to avoid abuse of power and power is evenly distributed

• Representative government: A political system where the legislative and executive branches are operated by elected citizens on behalf of the people

Political Spectrum and Labelling

• Left-wing: This political label emphasises progress, reform and social equality

• Right-wing: This political label is based on conservative beliefs, reaction and tradition

• Conservative: This political ideology focuses on traditional family structures and social values

• Moderate: Rejecting extreme viewpoints and having a mainstream

• Liberal: Believing in equality, freedom and human rights

• Reactionary: Someone who wants to revert to traditionalism and reverse political changes

• The Characteristics of Australian Democracy

  • A written constitution (1901)

  • Appointed head of state (King Charles III)

  • Federal Government

  • Westminster parliamentary government - Bicameral system

  • Mandatory participation in elections

  • Dominance of major parties - Australian Labor Party and Liberal Party of Australia

Political Ideologies

Socialism:

• entails economic + political systems → support the belief that property, production and resources should be publicly owned + should be a even distribution of wealth

• allow for equality within society and dismantle social classes

• all members are responsible for a resource → gives them entitlement to a share

• ideals based on the principle that independent freedom and co-dependency are reliant on each other

• members must control production to access freedom

• left leaning ideology → countering capitalism

Key Beliefs of Socialism:

• production is publicly owned

• social equality

• self-managed economy

• even distribution of income

Liberal Democracy

Principles + Features of Liberal Democracy

• Principle 1: Rule of law

  • Everyone is equal before the law

• Principle 2: Consent of the Governed

  • Government needs our permission to govern us or else the power they possess is not considered legitimate

• Principle 3: The Separation of Powers

  • Ensures that power is evenly distributed between the three branches

  • Prevents abuse of powers or one branch dominating over the others

  • Judiciary branch: Makes judgements on law, represented by the High Court of Australia

  • Parliament branch: Make and change law, represented by the upper and lower house and the King (Governor-General)

  • Executive branch: Put law into action, represented by the King (Governor-General), Prime Minister and ministers

• Feature: Freedom and Liberty

  • Eradicate the constraints of individual actions

  • Pursue own interests

• Feature: Opposition to the concentration of power in one person

  • Links to the separation of powers.

  • Directly counters dictatorships or governments with one-party systems.

• Feature: The rule of law and due process

  • Ensures that the law applies to everyone, despite factors such as socioeconomic status, gender, position of power, etc

  • Transparency and openness in processes

Authoritarianism

• Based on the principle of blind loyal to government bodies at the expense of individual rights and freedoms

• Power in one person or group → lack of political opposition

  • Have total control and can exercise power while ignoring pre-existing legislation

• Policy remains consistent for the duration of the leadership

• Citizens cannot vote in elections to alter bad policies

  • Change policies through intense measures like violence

• Limited liberty → eg. censorship in the media

• Lack of choice in property rights

Case Study of a Non-Democratic Party

Cuba - Socialism

• Communist Party of Cuba is the only major party

• Political System: One state - one party

• Governing style: Marxist-Leninist, Socialism

• 1959 Cuban Revolution → Made Cuba into a one-party state

• Government controls 90% of the economy

• Workers’ salaries are evenly distributed as a trade-off for healthcare, education, inexpensive transport, and housing, etc

• Provided housing is in poor condition

• Cubans create their own businesses secretly to not pay heavy taxes and pay for a government business license

• Cuba legalised private small/medium businesses in 2021 as a result of people protesting about the economic collapse → Socialism is ineffective

China - Communism

• Political System: Democratic dictatorship or Socialism w/ Chinese characteristics

• The Communist Party of China

• Political System: One-party state

• Princeling Faction: Come from families of revolutionaries or high ranking individuals

  • Economically well-developed coastal cities

  • Financial beneficiaries

• Populist Faction: Advance in politics through the Chinese Communist Youth League

  • AKA tuanpai → league faction

  • Representing farmers, migrant workers, urban poor, etc

• Politburo Standing Committee: The core leadership group of CPC that enacts and amends all laws

  • Comprised of 5-7 members who make decisions on major issues

  • Highest level of executive government

  • Transfer of power in the CPC is an internal matter

  • Protections of rights and freedoms: Deemed an authoritarian society, has power over the citizens’ lives, less free and independent media outlets, prioritises economic rights over political freedoms

Tiananmen Square Case Study

• Date: 3-4 June 1989

• Gov. cracked down on protesters in Tiananmen Square → uni students wanted more individual rights + freedoms

• 22 April 1989: Hu Yaobang’s CCP Secretary encouraged democratic reforms

  • Funeral: students gathered to demand gov. reform

• Chinese premier + elder statesman insisted on sup

• pressing protests

• 3-4 June 1989, tanks + armed troops opened fire on people blocking their way

  • When soldiers reached the square, thousands of demonstrators left

• 5 June 1989: Military had complete control → incident where lone protester faced down a column of tanks near the square → pulled away by 2 men

• Chinese gov. arrested suspected people who might have opposed the gov.

• Government kill count: 241, 7000 wounded

  • other estimates have higher death toil

• Gov. suppresses reference to this incident

Compare the Communist Party of China’s ideologies with the Australian Liberal Party

Formal and Informal Politics

• Formal politics: The dominant frame of reference when considering the nature of politics.

  • Global actors who are prominent in the media and such

• Informal politics: Power structure of personal relations between people to obtain power

  • Eg. everyday politics: Friendship group at school, workplace gossip, couple parting ways

    • Hierarchies, laws, ideologies, codes of conduct, power struggles

Power

• Power: The ability to direct people’s behaviour and have authority over others

• Hard power: When an actor uses force and coercion to get what they want

  • Threatened with money or a material/monetary incentive

  • Actor A wins, Actor B loses

  • Eg. North Korea’s military system → use of 25% of GDP on military

• Soft Power: The use of appeal and attraction to achieve goals

  • Actor A appeals to Actor B so they want the same thing → Actor A strategically makes situations to make the win favourable for Actor B

  • Eg. Australia’s government system → focus on building connections with other countries with Australia’s internet at large