Introduction
Most of the political systems in Australia bear a close resemblance to systems in the United States. As such both countries reflect similar political principles such as democracy and equality. However, political systems in both countries also have distinctive aspects that make them dissimilar. This paper explores both the similar and unique aspects of both countries’ electoral systems. The first part of this paper provides a general overview of the Australian electoral system while the second part outlines specific similarities and differences of this system with the US system.
Body
Australian Electoral System- General Overview
Like most other of its political systems, the Australian electoral system is designed to facilitate the infusion of democracy in government. One of the main features of this system is the use of secret ballot which was adopted in 1857 (decades before other democracies started using secret ballot). By allowing all adults over the age of twenty one to vote irrespective of gender in 1908, Australia became among the first countries to promote equality in voting rights .The Australian Electoral Commission, which is an independent body that is not influenced by either the executive, legislature or judiciary, is in charge of monitoring the electoral systems in the country and conducting elections which are held on the state and federal levels (Farrell and McAllister 184-185).
Australia has four main voting systems; preferential, proportional, simple majority and hare-Clark. Unlike most other democracies that use ‘simple majority’ to determine the winner(s) of an election, this method is not applied in Australian parliamentary election. The preferential voting system, which is a uniquely Australian voting system, is more commonly used and has been used since 1920. This system enables voters to list election candidates in order of preference instead of merely selecting their candidate of choice like in the simple majority system. Australia is divided into six states and all states, except Tasmania, use the preferential voting system (Farrell and McAllister 185-186).
There are four main types of votes in the Australian electoral system. Voters can cast an ordinary vote if they are voting in the division or voting district where they were registered. An absent vote enables the electorate to cast their votes even if they are outside their registered division. However, an absent vote can only be granted if a voter is still within the borders of their home state. The Australian electoral system differs from systems in most other countries since voters can be allowed to cast their votes before the actual polling day by using a pre-poll vote. This type of vote is granted to members of the electorate who can provide proof that they cannot vote of the official voting date(s) due to illness, work restrictions or lack of access to a polling station. The provisional vote which allows individuals to vote even if their name is not on the official voters register is also used but in rare cases (Farrell and McAllister 187).
Currently, all Australians who are over the eighteen years of age are expected to vote compulsorily. The only exception to this law is inmates whose jail terms exceed five years. This electoral law has been one of the major factors that have led to the high voter turnout in Australian elections.
Comparison of Australian System with US System
Both the US and Australia have a senate and House of Representatives. However, their electoral procedures have both similarities and differences. For instance, in Australia, House of Representative members have three year terms while in the US members are only in office for a two year period. The terms of House of Representative members’ in Australia are not fixed like in the US. House of Representative elections are therefore more frequent and more rigid in the US than in Australia.
In spite of the close resemblance of Australia’s political system to the system in the US, Australia also has some features that closely resemble the British system. For instance, instead of a congress, Australia has a parliament parliamentary elections are held every three years except in rare cases when parliament may be dissolved by the prime minister. However, the functions, duties and structure of the US Congress and Australian parliaments are quite similar. As with the House of Representatives, the electorate in Australia vote for parliamentarians very three years while in the US congress members are elected every two years (Miller 78).
In both the US and Australian electoral systems elections for senators are held every six years .However, there is a distinction in how these elections are held. In Australia, at every senate election, half of the senators are up for re-election while in the US only a third of senate members are elected every six years. Just as the elections for the US congress are held on a fixed date (the second of November every two years), the term for Australian Senate begins with similar precision very first day of July (Aitkin 129-130) .As stated earlier, all; Australian citizens who are above the legal voting age are compelled to participate in elections by the law. In fact, a fifty dollar fine is imposed on those who do not exercise their right and duty to vote. In the US, citizens are encouraged to exercise their rights to vote but this is not compulsory.
The Australian Electoral Commission is responsible for conducting nationwide elections. The commissions mandate is granted by the Electoral Act of 1918 which also provides a similar set of election standards which are used in all parts of Australia. To a large extent, the voting standards and criteria are common in all states in the US. However, there are some variations in the election processes in different states. For instance, some states have disenfranchisement laws for prisoners while others do not. For each of fifty US states, two senators are elected to represent the electorate. The number of Australian senators for each state is also equal even though each state votes for a much higher number of senators (twelve).The simple majority voting system in the US has enhanced the infusion of democratic principles and ideals in the electoral system (Dougherty 179-180) .While this method is used in some occasions to determine the outcome of elections in Australia, the main voting systems are preferential and proportion and they are used in the House of Representative and Senate elections respectively.
The head of the federal government in Australia is the prime minister while in the US the president is the overall leader. In Australia, the party that has a clear majority of seats in the House of Representatives is expected to vote for the prime minister since the elected members are perceived to represent the will of the electorate. On the other hand, the American electorate directly elects the president. The influence that the head of government in Australia and US have on the electoral process also differs. Whereas the American president has no control over election dates for the senate or House of Representatives, the Australian PM is allowed, under the constitution, to dissolve parliament and call for elections under certain circumstances such as the lack of a clear majority for the ruling party.
One of the major differences between the Australian and US electoral processes is the length of time spent on campaigning for votes and the criteria that political parties use to select their nominees for various political posts. In the US, the nomination process, especially for those seeking to run for the presidency is long and may take up to two years. This lengthy nomination period is intended to ensure that each party nominates the most competent candidate. In Australia however, political parties select party leaders long before the general elections are held since the party leader is the de facto candidate for the election of the prime minister, election campaigns last for a much shorter period( a few months).
In any countries electoral system, the financing of elections is a major factor. The manner in which the US and Australian systems are financed is quite difference since the US is more strict on transparency especially in terms of financing for federal elections. For instance, the amount of funds that are contributed to fund a candidate’s campaign or even a party is strictly regulated and recipients of election funding are expected to provide documentation on the amount of funding they receive and how they spend it (Bardes and Shelley 274) .This level of disclosure is absent in the Australian electoral systems since regulations on who can fund election campaigns or how money donated is spent are not strict. However, even with the deregulation of election financing in Australia, the electoral systems is just as corruption-free as the US and other countries that enforce democratic ideals.
Conclusion
All in all, it is clear that even though the US and Australia may seem to have nearly identical political systems, there are some deeply-set differences that make each country’s system unique. The electoral system of any country has a definitive role in the entire political system since it determines the criteria to be used in filling political offices. The fact that the Australian electoral system is significantly different from that of the US therefore means that the entire Australian political system is more dissimilar from that of the US than it may appear on the surface.
Works Cited
Aitkin, Don. Electoral systems and party systems: a study of twenty seven democracies,1945-1990. Oxford University Press, 1994.
Bardes, Barbara A and Mack C Shelley. American Government and Politics Today. Cengage Learning, 2008.
Dougherty, John Hampden. The Electoral System of the United States . BiblioBazaar Publishers, 2009.
Farrell, David M and Ian McAllister. The Australian electoral system: origin, variations and consequences. UNSW Press, 2006.
Miller, Frederic P. Australian Electoral System. VDM Publishing House, 2009.
