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.
Category: Political issues
Political advertising revisited
Watch a relatively effective piece of government advertising. Think about how much worse it gets than that. Then wonder why political parties can't pay for their own advocacy.
Snowden and statelessness
Edward Snowden has all sorts of problems. But statelessness isn't actually one of them.
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?
Welcoming a bigger Europe
A few hours ago – midnight local time, or 8am eastern Australian time – the European Union became a little bigger, with the accession of Croatia as its 28th member. From its modest beginnings more than 60 years ago as an agreement of six western European countries to pool some of their industrial resources, the EU … Continue reading Welcoming a bigger Europe
Getting the story straight in Africa
Barack Obama is starting to tell a consistent story about human rights in Africa, and by implication elsewhere – helped by this week's Supreme Court decision on gay rights.
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.
Sex, Politics and Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi has moved closer to going to jail, on a charge that almost by coincidence tells us a lot about his record.
The tea party fights back on immigration
A new study on the "tea party" movement gives some hints on why immigration reform is such a hard sell in the US Republican Party.
Do libertarians believe in democracy?
A set-to between Jon Chait and Rand Paul has an important moral. Democrats should get over their fear of limited government, and libertarians should get over their fear of democracy.
