Irish voters decide to keep their Senate after all. Meanwhile, British politicians are arguing about giving their voters the opportunity to decide whether to keep EU membership.
Category: Australia
On getting rid of a Senate
Ireland's voters may decide tomorrow to abolish their Senate. Could it happen in Australia as well?
If you’re not sick of elections yet …
Germany votes in two weeks time on the fate of Angela Merkel's government. The result will depend in part on a quirk of the country's otherwise very democratic electoral system – a system which, incidentally, would have produced a rather different result last weekend in Australia.
Please don’t feed the beast
Unnecessary military spending is a cancer on democracy, but it takes a case like Egypt to show the real damage that it can do.
How to think about the Senate
Australia has a Senate largely modelled after that of the United States, but understanding its elections is a very different business.
David Cameron channels Stephen Conroy
David Cameron commits himself to a compulsory internet porn filter, à la Stephen Conroy and Kim Beazley. It doesn't make any sense, but for certain sorts of policies, that doesn't seem to be an obstacle.
Westminster government for beginners
Our system of government operates under a set of largely unwritten conventions. But they're well established and they work surprisingly well, which is why the governor-general has not tried to second-guess the ALP caucus.
Rudd, reaction and refugees
The reborn Kevin Rudd turns out, unsurprisingly, to be a "conservative" on refugees as well. But leaving aside the morality of his promised toughness, why does anyone think it makes political sense for Labor?
Incentive effects
If you increase the demand for political bastardry, you'll get more of it in the future. It's not entirely clear that the federal Labor Party realises this.
Populist insurgency not working well in Italy
Italy's centre-left finally gets some good news, but its populist movement is facing the sort of problems that typically plague amateurs in politics.
