Civic engagement in Australian democracy / edited by Sarah Murray and Lachlan Umbers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Murray, Sarah, Author.

Contributor:

Murray, Sarah, editor.

Umbers, Lachlan, editor.

Series:

Anthem studies in Australian politics, economics and society.

Anthem studies in Australian politics, economics and society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Voting--Social aspects--Australia.

Voting.

Political participation--Australia.

Political participation.

Democracy--Australia.

Democracy.

Australia--Politics and government.

Australia.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 218 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London : Anthem Press, 2025.

Summary:

The Australian democratic system has long been regarded as one of the most stable and predictable in the world, with an entrenched two-party duopoly, compulsory voting ensuring high levels of electoral participation and relatively high levels of satisfaction with the democratic process. Yet the ways Australians engage with, and participate in, their democracy have shifted substantially in recent times. While a record proportion of Australians are now on the electoral roll, less than 1% belong to a political party, and the share of Australians that have always voted for the same party in Federal elections has declined from 72% in 1967 to 37% in 2022. Turnout in the 2022 Federal Election fell below 90% for the first time since the introduction of compulsory voting in 1924. Over 50% of voters cast their ballots early in 2022, up from around 10% in 2004. The advent of social media has afforded Australians a range of opportunities for political engagement but has also given rise to serious concerns surrounding the dissemination of misinformation. And Australians have also recently been afforded several historically rare opportunities for direct participation in the lawmaking process - particularly, the 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite and the 2023 referendum on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.

Contents:

1 Introduction

References

2 Citizen Guardians? Civic Engagement and Constitutional Conventions

Introduction

The Virtues and Vices of Constitutional Conventions

Contemporary Challenges to Constitutional Norms: The Growing Complexity of the Norm Ecosystem

The Multiple Ministries Example

Way Forward?

Towards Citizen Custodianship of Norms

Implementing Citizen Custodianship

Conclusion

3 Compulsory Voting in an Era of Democratic Disengagement

Democratic Disengagement in 1924

Twenty Years of Party Consolidation

Party-Citizen Linkage under Compulsory Voting

Voter Dissatisfaction since 2007

The Voluntary Voting Counterfactual

Selling Policy Solutions to the Parties

Exercising Voice through Mixed-Member Proportional Representation

Allowing Voter Exit in the Compulsory System

Fixing the System from Inside

4 Early Voting and the Democratic Ideal

The Egalitarian Case for Universal Early Voting

Against the Egalitarian Case

Early Voting and Openness

5 Merely Advisory or Effectively Binding? The Status of Plebiscite Results in Australia

The Plebiscite as a Democratic Device

The Plebiscite in Australia

How Australian Politicians Have Responded to Plebiscites

High Compliance with Plebiscite Results

Resistance to Plebiscite Implementation

Possible Reasons for High Compliance with Plebiscite Results

Initiation by Government or Parliament

Interests

Principle

6 Reflections on the Voice Referendum

Division and Unequal Rights.

Arguments for the Voice in Retrospect

Political Legitimacy and the Voice

Legitimacy Reconsidered

7 Understanding the Competing Sovereignty Claims of the Voice Referendum

Constitutional Legitimacy Crises and Intractability

Contested Visions of Sovereignty: Statist Perspectives

Contested Visions of Sovereignty: Indigenous Perspectives

What Is to Be Done? Managing Incommensurable Sovereignty Claims

8 Australian Civic Engagement: A Case Study of the 2023 Voice to Parliament Referendum

Background and Literature

The Australian Media and Information Ecosystem

Political Communication: Agenda-setting and the Role of Negative Campaigning

The 2023 Voice to Parliament Referendum

Referendum Campaigns

Findings: Voice to Parliament - Campaigns, Actors and Social Media Use

'Yes' Campaign

'No' Campaign

X (Formerly Known as Twitter)

YouTube

TikTok

Meta: Facebook and Instagram

Appendix: Table 8.3

9 The Unstable Foundations of the Implied Freedom of Political Communication

Revisiting the Foundations of the Implied Freedom

The Judge as Referee: Gageler CJ's 'Representation-Reinforcing' Conception of the Implied Freedom

The Judge as Spectator: Steward J's Extreme Scepticism of the Implied Freedom

The Judge as Linesman: Edelman J's Moderate Scepticism of the Implied Freedom

10 Increasing Third-Sector Governance Expectations as a Barrier to Civic Engagement in Australia

Terminological Insights

Declining Participation

Increased Governance Expectations

Changing Sector Expectations: The Impact on Social Capital and Collective Action

Ever Professionalising

Mission Drift

References.

11 Civic Engagement among the Australian African Diaspora: National and Transnational Activity

Migrants and Civic Engagement

Migrants' Political Engagement in Australia

African Australians' Civic Engagement in Australian Democracy

Who Is the African Diaspora in Australia?

Formal Citizenship, Voting, and Formal and Informal Political Participation

Transnational Engagements

12 Australian Democracy and the Climate Crisis

Democratic Debilitation Hindering Effective Climate Action

Short-termism

Capture by Vested Interests

Self-referring Decision-making

Weak Multilateralism

Threats to Australian Democracy from the Climate Crisis

Renewing Australian Democracy to Address the Climate Crisis

A Planning State

A Solidaristic Ethos

Fair and Inclusive Politics

Conclusion.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 12 Sep 2025).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-83999-355-3

1-83999-354-5

OCLC:

1512317643