Has The Increased Influence Of Minor Parties And Independents Enhanced Essay

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