Has The Increased Influence Of Minor Parties And Independents Enhanced Democracy In Australia - Essay Example

Has The Increased Influence Of Minor Parties And Independents Enhanced Democracy In Australia? The presence of minor parties in Australia has enhanced the concepts of representative democracy. Even though the country has been experiencing some faults, currently, the presence of the minority parties and independents within Australia’s representative democracy shows that there are new ways that are being created for making the democracy in the country even better. 1. Introduction This paper defines what representative democracy in Australia really is along with what it aspires to become. It explains the principles that are embodied within Australia as a liberal country and as a representative democracy that also aspires to become fully representative, which of course is not possible. The paper also defines what a healthy democracy is and explains where the problems lie in Australia’s inability to achieve a fully representative democracy. It provides the solution to the problems that can be achieved through utilizing the minor parties in the democracy. It additionally expounds on how the minor parties enhance democracy in Australia while providing the drawbacks that these parties encounter. Finally, the paper provides a conclusion for the topic while it gives the way forward to the topic at hand. 2. Define Representative Democracy In Australia, And What It Aspires To Be. The Representative democracy in Australia is a type of a democracy whereby the citizens of the country who are above eighteen years elect people to represent them in their government. Moreover, these people are also elected so that they can formulate decisions on behalf of their people (Hazel, 2010). The representative government within the country comprises of the federal, local and state levels (Smith, Vromen & Cook, 2012). The federal level is composed of the federal parliament which is in turn made up of the House of Representatives along with the senate. The body is charged with formulating decisions for the federal government and is headed by the country’s prime minister. The state governments on the other hand are charged with making decisions for the state government. Every state parliament in the country except the one that is found in Queensland has two state houses. Consequently, the representatives to these houses are normally elected by the citizens during an election while state governments in Australia are led by a person who has the title of a premier. Finally, the local governments are responsible for managing the councils found in the states. The representatives chosen to represent the people in city councils are referred to as councilors and are headed by a Mayor (Australian Electoral Commission, 2011). Australia is a liberal democracy that embodies the principles of the American federal models along with the Westminster models for responsible governments. A combination of these models creates implications that are direct for the manner in which the government is held accountable by the voters in the country. The concept of federalism in Australia implies that the state along with the commonwealth government have separate and different responsibilities (Smith, Vromen & Cook, 2012). However, the Australian voters are responsible for electing the people who will represent them in the three levels of government that are found in the country. The country is among a few countries across the globe that has made voting mandatory for each and every citizen in the country who is above eighteen years of age (Crosby, 2003). Critics to the law on compulsory voting have insisted that the law greatly limits the democratic participation of the citizens. The country is also a representative democracy in that the citizens elect people to act on their behalf in the decision making activities in the country’s legislative houses. The country aspires to become fully representative which is not possible (Smith, Vromen & Cook, 2012). This is mainly because the government does not provide for full representation for the minority communities living in the country. For instance, the Aborigines who are the natives of the country and who still live in it have recently had their land rights abolished (Hazel, 2010). According to the Howard government and other previous regimes, the Aborigines were to be denied the land rights and the land would in turn be sold to businesses and any willing individual (Beazley, 2007). The leaders have argued that communal ownership of land was greatly affecting the country’s economic development. The members of the community have reached a political dead end with the government concerning its plans due to their under representation (Abbot, 2012). A healthy democracy is a democracy that presents established institutional structures that will assist the citizens of a country in realizing their freedom along with equality in their society (Crosby, 2003). This is mainly achieved through the use of legitimate and proper functioning institutions that are provided by the government (Laycock, 2004). Moreover, healthy democracies also utilize certain mechanisms that are employed in ensuring that freedom and equality for all individuals in the country is achieved. These mechanisms may include the use and enactment of new laws to support their efforts (Beazley, 2007). The institutions in the country require the complete backing of the citizens for them to be successful. Furthermore, in healthy democracies, the citizens enjoy modest freedom and equality (Crosby, 2003). They additionally have the powers of evaluating whether their government is pursuing their objective of achieving freedom and equality for all individuals in the country in accordance with the country’s law (Australian Electoral Commission, 2011). The citizens in a healthy democracy are also able to monitor how efficiently their existing laws are being enforced and the efficiency of their government’s decisions (Beazley, 2007). This is in addition to their task of evaluating the accountability along with the responsibility of their elected officials in meeting the people’s demands (Laycock, 2004). 3. What is the problem causing unequal representation in Australia? The representative government in Australia has still not been able to achieve equal representation for all communities within the country like the Aborigines (Australian Electoral Commission, 2011). Currently, the country has a hung parliament which many perceive to be unstable and relatively weak due to the ideological differences that exist between the people who form it (Bonnie, 2010). The uncertainty created comes from the fact that the leaders of the major parties enter into negotiations with the leaders of other minor parties thereby distorting their original political agendas (Smith, Vromen & Cook, 2012). This is mainly because the minor parties have to present their conditions for consideration before they can join hands with these parties and form the government (Hazel, 2010). In these form of parliamentary system, many leadership positions ranging from the post of a minister to a being a member of a legislative committee in the country’s parliament are given to the minor parties and independent candidates (Crosby, 2003). The minor parties and independents have increasingly received the increasing support of the Australian people firstly because the existing major parties in the country have been ignoring the changes that are occurring in the political along with social scene (Abbot, 2012). They did not accommodate these changes in their policies thereby making the people favor the minor parties who had pledged to consider implementing them (Smith, Vromen & Cook, 2012). Secondly, several political events and wrangles have taken place within the major parties in the country leading to the creation of these new but minor parties or the splitting of the existing ones (Bonnie, 2010). The country’s electoral system has also facilitated the establishment of these parties along with their persistence through the process of making their presence in parliament their main avenue of pursuing influence (Crosby, 2003). These parties have in turn enabled partisan politics to be included in the senate along with the House of Representatives elections. Such moves have enabled the minor political groups to effectively pursue their objectives through airing their views in parliament (Niemczak & Jutras, 2008). They tend to get the support of their coalition partners who also require theirs when they require passing vital pieces of legislation (Bonnie, 2010). For instance, the minor parties require a majority in the lower houses within the country for the purpose of bargaining for preferences from their senate (Smith, Vromen & Cook, 2012). The senate in Australia mainly comprises of members from the major parties and has been reported to pursue the interests of the major communities (Bonnie, 2010). The senators from the minor parties have also been able to bring the national government’s attention to their state issues through the use of their unique regional constituencies (Crosby, 2003). It is through these regional constituencies that the minority groups of people such as the Aborigines have been able to air their concerns. For instance, the senator known as Brian Harradine from a minor party, utilized the senate for the purpose of bringing into the national limelight the problems the people of Tasmania were encountering (Beazley, 2007). Such actions have helped in increasing the popularity of the minor parties and independents within the country. Many voters have in turn voted for their members like in the 2010 general election where a minor party came third by securing over 12% of the total votes cast. In the current hung parliament that is led by Julia Gillard, the country’s prime minister was created after the labor and liberal national coalitions had tied at 72-72 during the elections. The premier had to secure the support of a number of four out of a possible six independent along with some crossbenchers from the Green Party for her to form the new government (Australian Electoral Commission, 2011). In order to achieve their support, she had to iron out their political differences and come into a consensus concerning their collective political agenda (Bonnie, 2010). What is the solution to the problem/ or what could be the solution to this problem through the use of minor parties? The minor parties in Australia are political parties that are mainly smaller than the major parties in the country (Niemczak & Jutras, 2008). Moreover, their participation in politics along with the country’s elections is minimal when compared to the degree in which the major parties participate in these processes (Smith, Vromen & Cook, 2012). The major difference that exists between these two types of parties is that their membership contributions usually vary a lot with the major parties being able to raise substantially larger sums than the minor parties. They additionally receive less recognition, applications for membership along with donations prior to their participation in an election (Crosby, 2003). The methods of voting utilized in a country can either prove to be an advantage for the minor parties though they can also be a disadvantage. The method of proportional representation and the allocation of preferences within Australia’s political system has enabled the minor parties to enjoy many advantages during elections (Beazley, 2007). This is further enabled by the fact that the minor parties mainly emphasize on issues that the major parties have previously ignored. It is this fact that has enabled the parties to increasingly gain popularity in the recent years (Laycock, 2004). The independents in Australia on the other hand, are individuals who are found in the country’s parliament but are not affiliated to any political party that is found in their legislative houses (Bonnie, 2010). They normally hold centralist perceptions that are somewhere between those of the major and minor political organizations. In addition, they may also advocate for changes in areas that have previously been ignored by other political parties (Crosby, 2003). When minority governments are functioning properly or are being practiced appropriately, they can be an improvement to the single-party majority (Abbot, 2012). Instead of one party controlling the government, minority governments have facilitated for multi-party governance, which greatly promotes compromises between the political parties that exist in Australia (Smith, Vromen & Cook, 2012). The use of minority party rule in Australia has additionally enabled them to provide alternative solutions to the electorates whose interests have previously been undermined by the major political parties that exist in the country (Bonnie, 2010). The parties usually found their political agendas based on the issues that the major parties have previously been ignoring and which affect their people (Beazley, 2007). These acts have enabled them to increasingly continue gaining popularity among the voters in the country. The minor parties and independents greatly help in bringing the problems of the minority groups of people living in the country to the national limelight, thereby prompting the government to take some actions in correcting them (Crosby, 2003). The minor parties in Australia have recently been playing a vital role in making decisions in the country’s parliament through their involvement in forming the government after the previous elections held in the year 2010 that resulted in a hung parliament (Laycock, 2004). 4. How else do they enhance democracy? The minor parties in Australia help to increase the accountability and stability of the government, by turning the role of the senate to a house of review thereby allowing many amendments to the existing laws to pass through. They can also help in keeping a healthy check on the government which should be restrained in its utilization of public funds (Smith, Vromen & Cook, 2012). For example, in the year 2009, the Australian Greens introduced into the political landscape the issues of environmental politics in the country (McCann, 2011). The party entered into an agreement with the ALP party after the election results that led to a hung parliament (Laycock, 2004) What Are Some Of The Drawback Of Minor Parties? The minor parties that exist in Australia suffer from a variety of drawbacks that hamper their operations. This includes their inability of raising funds from their members who are not as many as those found in the major political parties (Niemczak & Jutras, 2008). However, these parties get donations from various non government organizations to assist their efforts. The party members are also required to follow strict party discipline to ensure that the minor parties gain popularity for achieving their objectives effectively for the benefit of the citizens (Smith, Vromen & Cook, 2012). The minor parties in Australia are less stable than the major parties due to their inability to raise funds along with the required support across the country to form the government (Hazel, 2010). Their organizational structures are not also as well established as those of the majority parties. Furthermore, when minor parties are functioning properly, they are able to ensure integrity, accountability along with responsibility by the government in performing their public duties (Laycock, 2004). 5. Conclusion The paper looked at representative democracy, Australia as a liberal democracy and how the country aspires to be fully representative but fails. It also described what a healthy economy is and the problem behind unequal representation in Australia. It additionally provides a solution to the problem and states how the minor parties enhance democracy in Australia. The paper also describes the drawbacks that the minor parties encounter in their operations. It however states that when they are functioning properly they are very efficient in ensuring that there is accountability, responsibility and integrity in the government. In conclusion, the increased influence of the minor parties and independents in Australia can be said to have enhanced democracy in the country (Laycock, 2004). References Abbot, T, 2012, Minor Parties, Independents In Australia, Australian Journal of Public Issues, Vol.68, no.6, pp. 212-267. Australian Electoral Commission, 2011, Three Levels Of Government, Retrieved from http://threelevelsofgovernment.gov.au/records/?ID=19459 and [Accessed on 31/05/2012]. Beazley, K, 2007, Aboriginal Representation In Federal Parliament, Australian Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 41, no.3, pp.187-312. Bonnie, M, (21 August 2010). Australian Election Delivers Hung Parliament (London: The Daily Telegraph). Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/7957876/Au stralian-election-delivers-hung-parliament.html. [Accessed on the 31/05/2012]. Crosby, N, 2003, Healthy Democracy: Empowering a Clear and Informed Voice of the People, Beaver’s Pond Press, Melbourne. Hazel, T, 2010, Western Australian Paper Endorses Coalition. (The Herald Sun). http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/west-australian-paper-endorses- coalition/story-e6frf7jx-1225907724493. [Accessed on 31/05/2012]. Laycock, D. H, 2004, Representation And Democratic Theory, Australian Left Review, Vol.11, no.9, pp.199-256. McCann, J, 2011, Balancing The Act: The Australian Greens 2009-2011, International Journal of Health Promotion, Vol.13, no.7, pp.186-288. Niemczak, P & Jutras, C, 2008, Aboriginal Political Representation: A Review Of Several Jurisdictions, Australian Journal of Political Affairs, Vol. 5, no.8, pp.122-176. Smith, R, Vromen, A & Cook, I, 2012, Contemporary Politics In Australia: Theories, Practices And Issues, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Read More