Australian Political System Analysis

Discuss your understanding of the Australian political system and how its particular type of Liberal Democracy attempts to enhance the well-being of its citizens?

The nature of the development of the political system within Australia was directly impacted on the settlers who first colonised the land. If there had not been a majority of convict settlers, would Australia have evolved politically the same way it has? In other examples around the world such as the United States there is evidence to suggest that Australia may have developed very differently. Australia began life in the colony with uneducated convicts who forged their own political system and this had a lasting impression on the modern political system that has developed.…show more content…
There have been numerous meanings attached to the word democracy and over time democracy within government has meant different things to different governments (Heywood, 2007 p.4). The notion of democracy originates from Ancient Greece and has been considered simply by Abraham Lincoln in his 1864 Gettysburg Address as cited by Heywood (2007 pg. 72) as ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people’. This definition suggests that a democratic government should be made up of citizens of a state who develop laws and policies to manage their society in order to protect, progress and provide for all members of their society. According to Maddox (2005 p.489) democracy has a number of guiding principles, including that all human beings are equipped with a sense of right and wrong, the ability to guide their own lives, freedom of expression and toleration of others. Maddox further maintains that there is an understanding that democracy seeks to find the truth and those citizens within a democratic system have the right and freedom to do so. This is where the lines can become blurred within some democratic systems, when governments seek to withhold information, deceive citizens or limit the control citizens may have, they can be seen to be pushing the democratic boundaries. Maddox (2005 p.4) states that there are a number of styles of democracy including; direct democracy, classical democracy,…show more content…
(2006). Understanding ideologies. In A. Parkin, J. Summers & D. Wooward (Eds.), Governement, politics, power and policy in Australia (8th ed.) (pp. pp. 25-42). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia.

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Hirst, J. (2004). The distinctiveness of Australian democracy, 10 September,
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Hirst, J. (2002). In Australian's democracy: a short history. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Maddox, G. (2005). Austrralian democracy in theory and practice (5th ed.,). Frenchs Forest: Pearson.

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