The Australian voter : 50 years of change / by Ian McAllister.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McAllister, Ian, 1950-

Series:

ANZSOG (Series)

ANZSOG

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public opinion--Australia.

Public opinion.

Politics and government.

Political campaigns.

History.

Voting.

Elections.

Australia.

Elections--Australia--History.

Voting--Australia--History.

Political campaigns--Australia--History.

Australia--Politics and government--Public opinion.

Physical Description:

xv, 301 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Kensington, N.S.W. : University of New South Wales Press, 2011.

Summary:

The late twentieth century saw more changes in political attitudes and behaviour in Australia than at any other time since federation. There have been major changes in the way that election campaigns are conducted, with an increasing reliance on the electronic media and a trend towards the personalisation of politics. Voters attitudes towards political institutions have changed, with decreasing confidence in politics and politicians and changed level of cynicism. And political participation has declined, with reduced levels of pain and election involvement.

What does all this mean for Australian democracy? Do these trends suggest a long term realignment of the party system, with new parties emerging that appeal different groups of voters? Are our political institutions sufficiently flexible to respond to these new demands? And how does Australia compare with the other established democracies? Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Electoral institutions 1

Australia's experiments with democracy 2

The electoral rules of the game 4

The flow of the vote 11

The puzzle of compulsory voting 20

Constitutional change and the republic 27

Conclusion 31

2 Party loyalties 33

Party identification 34

Trends in party identification 38

The development of partisanship 43

Partisanship and the vote 50

Conclusion 54

3 Citizens' views of politics 56

The expansion of education 58

Trends in political interest 62

Levels of political knowledge 65

3 Trust in government 71

Political efficacy 77

Satisfaction with democracy 81

Conclusion 85

4 The election campaign 87

The role of the mass media 88

Interest and participation in the campaign 95

The timing of the voting decision 101

Do campaigns matter1? 106

Conclusion 109

5 Social background 111

Gender 112

Age and generation 120

Religion 125

Ethnicity 131

The urban-rural divide 138

Conclusion 142

6 Class and economic interests 144

Class voting debates 145

Occupational class 149

Class interests 158

Economic assets 163

What aspects of class matter most? 167

Conclusion 170

7 Economic beliefs 172

The economy as an election issue 173

The concept of left-right 180

Positioning the voters and the parties 184

The role of the economy 190

Redistributive policies 195

Conclusion 202

8 Social attitudes and values 203

Social issues and elections 204

Value change 207

The politics of the environment 212

Race and immigration 217

Morality issues 224

Defence and foreign affairs 230

Conclusion 238

9 Political leaders 240

The personalisation of politics 241

How the leaders are rated 246

Leader images 251

Party leaders' debates 258

Conclusion 264.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [269]-291) and index.

ISBN:

9781921410116

1921410116

OCLC:

706446160