Democracy: Government with consent of the people. Democracy is a political system in which the government (theoretically or in practice) is controlled by the people, either directly or indirectly or through their elected representatives.
Responsible Government: A form of government in which the executive (the prime minister and cabinet) is responsible to the legislature (parliament) and is dependent on the support of the majority in the legislature for its authority. Government has to be accountable to the people.
Representative Government: A form of government in which the legislature is made up of elected representatives and is responsible for the formulation of laws. This may not necessarily be a democratic form of government.
Features of Democracy
1. Citizens are guaranteed basic human rights
ü Freedom to express opinions and to dissent from established policies
ü Security from arbitrary arrest
ü Freedom of assembly
ü Freedom to form associations
ü Freedom of movement
ü Freedom of religion and choice
2. Free elections
ü Elections should offer significant choice
ü People have the chance to choose leaders and express opinions on issues
ü Voting by secret ballot – free from force or bribes
ü Held frequently and predictably
ü Will of the people can change the government
3. Political Parties
ü Rivals – elections are meaningful
ü Parties are free to campaign in opposition
ü Parties out of power make government justify actions and be responsible to the people
4. Division of Power
ü Government structure prevents branch/person of government becoming too powerful
ü Elected representatives exercise true power
5. Constitution
ü Democratic government is government based on law
ü Constitutions state powers and duties of the government and limits what it can do
ü Constitutions may be written or unwritten and most contain a bill of rights
6. Independent Judiciary
ü The system of courts in continuous and assured operation
7. Majority Rules and Minority Rights
ü Decisions made according to majority rule and people accept choices made by the majority in free elections. Based on the ideal judgement of many is better than the few.
ü Majority rules does not mean they can do whatever they want, must keep in mind the rights and freedoms of the minority, which can never be taken away.
8. Private Organisation
ü Individual and private organisation may carry on social and economic activities mostly free of government control unlike totalitarian governments which control everything
Australian Democracy
ü 1788-1823: The government is autocratic as Australia was established as a penal settlement with much of the population composed of convicts who were supervised by soldiers and officials. The British government’s representative (the governor) had complete power, being only answerable to officials in London. As communication between both groups took months, the Governor had the power to make decisions on almost all matters. This was not very democratic as the governor was basically a dictator.
ü 1823: A law making a council for NSW was established but this is entirely made up of government officials. There are no elected representatives.
ü 1828: The council is expanded to include 7 private citizens. All members were appointed by the governor and were not likely to oppose him. The people still have no elected representatives.
ü 1842: Government discontinued transportation of convicts to NSW and the 1842 Constitution Act granted NSW and Van Diemen’s Land the right to elect a legislative council of 36 members. 24 of them were to be elected by the property-owning male colonists. Colonies granted representative government. The 1842 act transferred legislative power to the legislative council, which was made up of elected members and governor-appointed members on a 2:1 ratio, however executive power still resides in the governor. The representatives really represented the wealthy and the real authority still lay with the governor.
ü 1850: Australian colonies Constitution Act created separate colony of Victoria and gave the colonies the opportunity to draw their own constitution. This is a major step along the path towards democracy.
ü 1852: The colonies were told that Britain would a constitution where the executive was responsible to the legislature. The colonies assumed control of their own internal affairs under a system of responsible government. This is a major step towards democracy.
ü 1855: New constitution came into operation in NSW and Victoria.
ü 1856: New constitution came into operation in Tasmania and South Australia.
ü 1859: A Similar constitution is conceived when Queensland becomes a separate colony. Despite the colonies now having a measure of self-government, Britain still controlled their foreign affairs. Members of parliament were not paid which ensured a poor working class person could not assume the office – only people only property could stand for parliament. There was no secret ballot and women could not vote.
ü 1901: On the 1st of January the colonies agreed to form a federal union or federation.
ü 1908-1942: All adult women in all states have the vote, secret ballots are introduced, members of parliament are paid and the property qualification for parliament is removed.
Democratic Systems of Government:
1. Federalism: A system of government in which powers and responsibilities are divided between a national government and provincial or state governments. Power is shared by a powerful central government and states or provinces that are given considerable self-rule, usually through their own legislatures. Central government has powers concerning national affairs such as war. States have power over matters that concern it. E.g. Australia.
Ø Advantages:
o Suits a nation with a strong sense of regionalism and diverse cultures
o Local interests are better protected
o Limits the power of the government
o Gives people more choice
o Increases the diversity of policy making
o Contributes to stability because it allows different types of government to exist.
Ø Disadvantages:
o Duplication of services by governments
o Government becomes more expensive
o Difficult to coordinate activities between the two levels of government
o Each level of government tends to blame the other for problems
o Government is too weak
o Causes “states” rights issues
o States may become entrenched
2. Unitary System: One central government controls weaker states. Power is not shared between states, countries or provinces. All powers are concentrated in the central governments; states do what the central government tells them to do. E.g. China and U.K.
3. Confederate system: Weak or loose organisation of states agrees to follow a powerful central government. Nations can choose to follow or not to follow the lead of the weak central government. Confederate is where the central government only has powers delegated to it by the states. Each state has power over matters that concern it. E.g. C.I.S.
Voting Systems:
1. First Past The Post: The candidate who polls the highest number of formal votes (even if the number is not more than 50%) is elected.
2. Majority Voting: The candidate must achieve an absolute majority of votes to be elected.
3. Preferential Voting:
ü The voter is required to indicate an order of preference for candidates on the ballot paper. There are different types – showing a preference for all candidates on the voting ballot, showing a minimum number of preferences on the ballot, the candidate can choose if they want to indicate preferences after selecting their first choice.
ü To cast a formal (that is, valid) ballot under full preferential voting, voters must rank all candidates in order of preference. A candidate who receives an absolute majority (50+1) of the formal first preference votes cast is immediately elected.
ü Otherwise the candidate polling the smallest number of votes obtained by the eliminated candidates are transferred to the remaining candidates according to the preference on the ballot. The process is repeated until one candidate secures and absolute majority of the formal votes.
ü Nonetheless, the distribution of preferences is carried out in all divisions, including those where a candidate has obtained an absolute majority of first preference votes.
ü The result of the full distribution of preferences is used to calculate the two-party preferred vote between the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal-National Coalition.
4. Proportional Voting:
ü Used in elections for multi-member electorate to elect candidates who receive a set proportion of the vote. Senators are elected on a state/territory wide basis by the single transferable vote (STV) system, which combines proportional representation (PR) with preferential voting.
ü Under the system, voters cast a formal or valid ballot either by indicating a preference for a single ticket – a practice known as ticket voting, where the preferences are counted according to official order of preference registered with the Australian electoral Commission by the party or group fielding the ticket – or by ranking all individual candidates in order of preference.
ü In each state and territory senate seats are awarded to candidates who attain the state or territory quota, calculated by dividing the number of formal first preference votes cast in the senate or territory by one more than the number of seats to be filled, and then adding one to the result
ü A candidate whose first preference vote totals equal or exceeds the quota is immediately elected. If the candidate obtained more first preference votes than the quote, he surplus is distributed among the remaining candidates, in proportion to the second preferences of all votes cast for the successful candidate.
Executive: The branch of government which carries out or administers the laws; the group of people from the governing party who make policy and control government departments and are answerable to parliament for the way they run the government.
Legislature: The law making body of a country – parliament.
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