YEAR 9 POLITICS AND LAW SHORT ANSWER TEST REVISION

Key function/Structures of Australia’s Political System – Chapter 14.1 & 15.2 + OneNote

• why Australia is a representative democracy:

A representative democracy is when the people elect a candidate to represent them and to vote on laws on their behalf.

Australia is a representative democracy because the only other option is a direct democracy, (when majority of votes is formed from all people who are eligible to vote.) this would be impractical because we have a large population.

·       Explain the characteristics that show Australia is a ‘constitutional monarchy’.

We have a constitution and our head of state is a monarch.

·       What is ‘liberal democracy’ and what are some of Australia’s liberal democratic values?

A liberal democracy is a system of government that aims to protect individual rights and freedoms and place limits on the level of government control or interference.

Some of Australia’s liberal democratic values are freedom of speech, freedom of movement, right to a fair trial, freedom of election, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion.

·       Identify three differences between the House of Representatives and the Senate – consider their role in politics as well as the composition of both houses

The House of Representatives is the lower house of parliament, and has 151 seats, who are representatives of each electorate across Australia. Members of HoR serve for three-year terms and the political party with majority of seats (76) becomes the government.

Whereas the Senate is the upper house, has 76 seats, which are made up of 12 senators from each state and 2 senators from each territory. Members of the Senate serve for 6-year terms, but half of the Senate is elected every 3 years.

Political parties – Chapter 15.3 + OneNote

·       Define the term ‘political party’, understand the difference between ‘major’, ‘minor’ parties, and independents. Have examples of each.

A political party is an organisation that represents a particular group of people or set of ideas.

The two Major political parties in Australia are Labor Party and Liberal Party. The primary purpose of the two major political parties is the win the election and form government

Minor political parties include the Nationals and Greens. Minor parties often join with major parties to form a majority through coalition so that they can form the government.

Independents are MPs that do not belong to a political party. Independents may have views that do not quite fit with those of parties. Major parties often rely on independents’ votes to pass important laws. E.g. Andrew Wilkie and Kate Chaney.

·       Examples of political parties, coalitions and their platforms. (What do they stand for, what do they want to make laws about.)

Liberal Party: work towards rights and freedoms of all people and minimises government interference in daily lives. ‘A just and humane society in which the importance of family and the role of law and justice is maintained.’ They believe in individual freedom and free enterprise.

Labour Party: Believe that government must play a vital role in ensuring the public welfare and strongly supports gender and racial equality and Aboriginal rights.

Greens: Based on four key principles, ecological sustainability, grassroots democracy, social justice and peace and non-violence

Nationals: Prioritises building stronger regional economies and secure communities, ensuring a sustainable environment. Strong representation of local communities, security for communities and families, through preservation of decent health, safety, social and economic welfare.·       Define the term ‘opposition’.

Opposition is the second largest political party, or coalition of parties, after the government in the lower house of parliament. They work to scrutinise and oppose government policies.

·       How is ‘government’ formed in Australia. Explain what needs to happen.

Government is formed in Australia when Australian citizens over the age of 18 vote in a compulsory election to elect their representative in their electorate. The HoR is made up of 151 seats (electorates) the party with the absolute majority (at least 76 seats) forms the governments

·       Using the 2022 election as a case study, outline who won that election and use examples/numbers of people in the HoR and Senate (composition) to show this.

The Federal election of 2022 – the 47^th parliament was elected on 21^st of May.

The Australia Labour Party (ALP) won 77 seats in the HoR ending the period of coalition government that lasted from 2013-2022. In this election 58 seats were held by the coalition parties including Liberal and Nationals (their lowest since 1983). 4 seats were held by Greens and 12 seats were held by other minorities and independents. In this election 10 out of 40 incoming Senators represented minor parties or independents.

Voting Systems in Australia. Chapter 15.5 + OneNote

·       Define ‘electorate’

A designated geographical area that is represented by an elected member in parliament.

·       Define ‘absolute majority’

An absolute majority is seats or votes that have majority by 50 percent plus one of seats/votes.

·       Explain how ‘preferential voting’ works for the House of Representatives

Voters are required to place the number 1 next to the candidate of their choice, for their first preference, they then continue to place the numbers, 2, 3 etc against the other candidates’ names on the ballot paper until all candidates have been allocated a preference.

Preferential voting requires the winning candidate to secure an absolute majority (50%+1) of the primary vote or absolute majority after the distribution of preferences.

·       Explain ‘first past the post’ voting works and why we do not use it in Australia anymore.

Past the post voting aka simple majority voting, is the most popular voting system used by democratic countries. It requires voters to place a tick or a cross against the name of the candidate they support, the winning candidate secures the highest number of votes than any other candidate.

We do not use first past the post voting in Australia anymore as the winning candidate may only secure a small number of votes compared to the rest of the voters who have supported someone else. Minor and independent candidates can also find it difficult to win against major parties.

·       Explain how ‘proportional voting’ works for the Senate

Each federal election, half of the Senate is re-elected (6 senators per state, 1 senator per territory (NT&ACT). To win a seat in the Senate, successful candidates must reach a quota of votes.

·       Give examples to demonstrate different outcomes

Factors Influencing Elections. Chapter 15.4, 15.6 + OneNote

·       Identify the 3 main factors that influence voter behaviour at election time

-          Media: what people read, see and hear online and through newspapers and radio can affect views of candidates

-          Party loyalty: some people always vote for the same party no matter what, this can be influence by how family votes

-          Advertising: Parties can pay for advertising on billboards, websites, tv and videos that reach voters and attempt to convince them to vote a certain way

·       Identify the 2 main campaign strategies used by political parties

-          Face to face: many politicians and party leaders will get out and talk to voters

-          Technology, media and advertising: Parties use catchy slogans, messages and videos to communicate with voters. This includes through social media platforms and tv, radio and interviews. Parties often attempt to expose their opponents’ weaknesses and share what they intend to do to create good.

·       Explain why social media is used as a campaign strategy at election time

Social media is used as a campaign strategy at election time so that politicians and parties can spread their messages quickly and effectively, and they can connect with more people. Voters can interact with politicians and ask questions, and it is possible to harness ‘viral’ marketing techniques and trends to spread messages.

·       Provide an example from recent elections of how election results have been influenced by different factors.

Rule of Law. Week 5-tab OneNote

·       Define The Rule of Law

The Rule of Law states that the law applies equally to all people and that no one is above the law.

·       Identify and describe 3 principles of the Rule of Law

The first principle of the Rule of Law is that Laws must be certain meaning that a person can only be punished, and law can only be applied and enforced according to the law at the time and the laws should be accessible and known by everyone.

The second principle is that laws must be general meaning laws should apply to everyone in the same way unless specified in the law.

The final and third principle is that laws must be applied equally including those who create or enforce the laws.

·       Discuss why the Rule of Law is crucial to Australia’s democracy

The rule of law is crucial to Australia’s democracy to ensure consistent, fair and just outcomes and decisions about legal matters, to protect individuals’ rights and freedoms, settle disputes between parties and ensure that laws are known and followable.

The House of Representatives:

-          The lower house of parliament

-          Made up of electorates (151 seats or electorates)

-          Referred to as ‘the people’s house’

-          Political party or coalition that wins majority of seats (at least 76) wins election and forms government in the HoR

-          Colour of HoR is green taken from the House of Commons (UK)

The Senate

-          The upper house of parliament

-          Each state represented by 12 senators.

-          Territories are represented by two senators each

-          Senate is the house of review, checks what the government is doing and holds it accountable for its actions.

-          Colour of Senate is red taken from the House of Lords (UK)