Chapter Eleven

Question 1

Define Two party system

Answer 1

A way in which a government can operate where only two parties have a realistic chance of forming government and they alternate between doing so. In Australia, these parties are Labor and the coalition.

Question 2

Define Winner’s bonus

Answer 2

A phrase which refers to the idea that the preferential system in the lower house greatly exaggerates the winning margins of governments.

Question 3

Define Voter Volatility

Answer 3

The number of voters that change their vote from election to election and thus make the election harder to predict.

Question 4

Define Swinging Voters

Answer 4

Voters who change their support from one major party to the other through the course of many elections.

Question 5

Define Non-Aligned voters

Answer 5

Voters who have no party commitment and may vote for any party differently in any election.

Question 6

Define Voting Behaviour

Answer 6

The reason why a voter votes for who they do, which are according too institutional, long term, medium term short term and media related factors.

Question 7

Define Institutional Factors

Answer 7

Institutional factors relate to how the electoral system used impacts how a voter would vote. For example, preferential voting in the lower house elections will always favour the major parties.

Question 8

Define Long Term Factors

Answer 8

These are factors such as race, ethnicity, age, gender, socio-economic position and geographic location which lead voters to pledge to one party for a long period of time. For example, someone who is white, old, upper-middle class and living in the western suburbs is generally going to be a Liberal voter because these long term factors are more aligned with the liberal party.

Question 9

Define Gender revolution

Answer 9

Referring to how the role of women has increased in the past 30 years which leads to big swings in the votes of women and a decreasing change from the vote of men.

Question 10

Define Medium Term Factors

Answer 10

These factors are more about how parties have performed over the last electoral term, and include the record of the government, the performance of the opposition, the economic management of the party and the party leadership. For example, someone who voted for the LNP in the 2013 federal election may have voted for the ALP in the 2016 election because they were disappointed with Malcolm Turnbulls leadership and were impressed with the performance of the opposition.

Question 11

Define Hip Pocket Nerve

Answer 11

The idea that the most important factor for winning an electorate is the economic policy that a candidate represents.

Question 12

Define ‘Blue Collar’ worker

Answer 12

People who work in industrial jobs such as manufacturing, mining and trade occupations that involve manual labour. People in these jobs generally earn a lower income and are more likely to vote for the Labor party.

Question 13

Define ‘White Collar” worker

Answer 13

Someone who works in a professional, managerial or administrative occupation which is situated in an office. People in these jobs are generally more wealthy and are more likely to vote for the Liberal party.

Question 14

Define Misery Index

Answer 14

A measure of economic prosperity which is calculated by adding together the unemployment rate and inflation rate. A higher misery index denotes a bad state of economy.

Question 15

Define Negative Advertising

Answer 15

A technique that can be used for campaigning which focuses on the negative aspects of the oppositions campaign.

Question 16

Define Push Polling

Answer 16

A form of negative advertising where campaigners will call individual voters and phrase a question which misinforms them about a rival candidate but does not do so in a factual way. For example, if a campaigner was to call a voter and say “Would the knowledge that John Citizen has a criminal history affect your decision to vote for him?”, this would be push polling because in this case it is untrue that John Citizen has a criminal history but they are still associating him with it.

Question 17

Define Wedge Politics

Answer 17

A form of negative advertising where campaigners will associate the opposition with a minority view. An example would be the LNP attempting to stigmatize the ALP by saying that their policy on security is weak.

Question 18

Define Opinion Polling

Answer 18

Measures of how much support a leader has often published my media organizations.

Question 19

Define The Bandwagon Effect

Answer 19

An effect produced by opinion polls which result in more people voting for the candidate or party that is leading in the polls.

Question 20

Define The Underdog Effect

Answer 20

An effect produced by opinion polls which results in more people voting for the candidate or party that is trailing in the polls.

Question 21

Identify three Factors that have contributed to the stability of Politics in Australia

Answer 21

The three factors that have led to stable governance in Australia are:
• An effective two party system of alternative Labor and coalition governments
• Very strong support for these two major parties
• Relatively infrequent changes of government
For example, governments formed have always been either Labor or coalition governments, coalition being the LNP and other minor parties which have united together. This successive change from these two different governments represent a two party system, which is partly due to the voting system in the lower house which favours major parties.
These two voting blocs have also historically received the large majority of support from voters, with WA elections from 1950 to 1993 all having at least 85% of the first preference votes going towards major parties.
Historically as well governments have remained in power for long times, such as the Keating-Hawke governments which remained in power from 1983 to 1996 and then the Howard government which remained in power from 1996 to 2007.

Question 22

Give Examples of how the socio-economic profile of a constituency can affect voting behaviour

Answer 22

Generally, voters from a lower socio-economic position vote for the Labor party which tends to offer economic policies that benefit people of a lower socio-economic status. Conversely, the Liberal party will attract voters that are of a higher socio-economic status since they offer economic policies which more greatly benefit them. For example, in the 2016 election the electorate of Curtin was won by the Liberal party which can be owed to the fact that the constituent is one of the western suburbs and generally the property there and people there are more wealthy. The electorate of Cowan however generally is poorer, which is part of the reason it fell to the Labor party in the 2016 election.

Question 23

Define Short Term Factors

Answer 23

Any factors from the when the election is called to voting day which effect voting behaviour. These often include the timing of the election, duration of the campaign, use of media campaigns and negative advertising.

Question 24

Define Marginal Seats

Answer 24

Seats that are held with a less than 5% margin. Parties will often target these seats using expensive marketing and advertising campaigns.

Question 25

Asses as to why there has been a long-term trend showing the decline support for major parties over the past few decades

Answer 25

• There is less inclination for sons and daughters to follow voting guidelines set by their parents, which leads to people growing up less partisan and more likely to switch parties.
• Personality has become an increasing factor which leads someone to vote, which increases the amount of voter volitivity
• Social media and general media have become increasingly important, they are able to report instantaneously on pressing political issues and can have a large sway for voters

Question 26

Describe How Election campaigns can influence the election results

Answer 26

Election campaigns can be extremely significant in influencing election results, the government has the advantage of being able to decide when to call an election and the duration of the electoral campaign. Expensive TV advertising, TV debates, leader focused media content and carefully constructed media events are undertaken by both major parties. The ability for journalists to ask political questions at these events are limited. Parties will target marginal seats with letters and emails sent directly to voters. Negative advertising is also a large part of election campaigns though the use of push polling and wedge politics.

Question 27

Assess the extent that the media play in influencing election outcomes

Answer 27

The media has become very significant for election outcomes in the past few decades, the increase in voter volatility means that voters are going to be more swayed by external sources such as the media. Both political parties have accused the media of political bias, the LNP accusing the ABC of bias and the ALP accusing channel nine of bias. Influence of the media can also be exaggerated, the ALP won five elections between 1983-1993 even though right wing newspapers were quite critical of the government. The media can be dangerous in that they focus on very mainstream and sensationalist issues whilst ignoring more minor issues, polls as well can simplify complicated political problems into simple yes and no answers.