Party system of australia and its efficiency

Running Head : Party system of australia and its efficiency
PARTY SYSTEM OF AUSTRALIA AND ITS EFFICIENCY
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Party system of australia and its efficiency1
The constitution of commonwealth does not regulate the manner of election of the
members of the senate and house of representatives neither it dictates the strength and number of
the national political party of Australia and competition dynamics among them (McAllister
2015). The party system and electoral have a deep impact on the dynamics of politics in
Canberra which includes the roles played by the house of representatives and Senate in
Parliament of Australia and the relationship among them. Special focus is provided to the
improvement that has affected fundamentally among parties concerning the balance of power,
the execution of principles of accountable government, and political dynamics in the parliament
of Australia. There is the election of the senate by proportional representation after the decision
taken in the year 1948. The process of electing Senators and representatives of Australia are
considered to be complicated in comparison to the election procedures of American counterparts
(Fraussen and Halpin 2016). The senators and representatives of the United States are elected in
the way which is termed as “first past the post” system which is preferably termed as plurality
system of the constitution. The single vote is cast by each voter whom he favors to symbolize
voter’s constituency and the candidates having majority votes becomes the winner. In the
commonwealth parliament of Australia, the members are elected by the combining method of
proportional representation and constituency majority with the application of preferential vote or
electing the members of both houses. The seat of the house of representatives in the parliament
of Australia is allocated according to the population among states and each state is demarcated
into the district and a single representative is elected from each division. According to Section 24
of the Australian Constitution, each state ensures a minimum of five seats in the House of
Parliament. The election of House of Parliament applies the system of district plurality until

Party system of australia and its efficiency2
1918. In that year, the parliament decided to shift from the plurality system of election to the
majority system with having preferential voting. Each voter mark ballot by putting numbers to
all candidates in preferential order marking “1” signifies first choice marking “2” signifies the
second choice. If the absolute majority is received by the candidates on first preference votes
then that candidate gets elected. If not the candidates having voted with fewest votes on first
preference are circulated among the candidates as per second preferences of supporters of that
candidates (Pennington et al. 2015. If the candidates with the majority votes are not produced by
redistribution the candidates who are popular at the second least are omitted and his votes are
rearranged in the same manner and continue until a single candidate receives a majority vote.
The rationale lies behind preferential voting lies on it provides protection against the candidate’s
election who acquire plurality instead of the majority of votes cast. If the candidates contesting
for the same seat is more than two, then there is a possibility that no candidates receive a
majority vote, the majority of voters select candidates receiving the plurality vote (Sá and
Sabzalieva 2018). The close connected impact of the preferential vote is to motivate further than
two candidates to contest for the same seat. The plurality system of election in the district it is
argues typically that anyone anticipates voting for a minor party in effect throws away to vote.
Under the preferential system of voting, the voters cast a vote for candidates whom he prefers
and marks second preference vote for the candidate who has a better scope of winning. The
preferential vote has the effect of motivating candidate’s multiplicity and thus reduces the
probability of receiving mainstream of first preferential voting by anyone. The elected candidates
of senates who represent the states are voted for six years (McNair 2017). Half of the candidates
voted every three years which is termed as half-senate elections excepting that follows the
double dissolution of Senate and House of Parliament. There are an equal representation of six

Party system of australia and its efficiency3
states in the senate and in addition to that at least six senators each state. According to Section 7
of the Australian Constitution which provides that there is the election of senators on a statewide
basis. In the year 1948, it is determined by the parliament of Australia that the Senators would be
voted in the manner of proportional representation which involves the application of a single
transferable election. In this complex system the numbers assigned by each voter reflect the
voter’s preference, the voter has first and second preference vote though there is more than one
representative to be chosen. Then there is a calculation of quota which reveals the number of
total first preference votes cast and total quantum of seats of senators being in the contest. The
candidates who get the majority of first preference votes are elected (Goodnow 2017). If the
surplus votes are received by the candidate, those votes which are surplus are dispersed as per
subsequent and second preferences of the candidates who vote in favor of the elected candidates.
After distribution of the surplus votes and there are not many candidates who receive the
necessary vote quota, the votes in favor of the candidates who are least popular are further
distributed according to the second preferences of his supporters and this process will continue
until there is sufficient number of candidates to fill the contested seats which have received
requisite votes quota. In a state when six voters get elected in the same period, the requisite
election quota is 14.3 percent out of total votes cast (Ardanaz and Maldonado 2016). The
candidates to get elected are not required to obtain 14.3 percent out of total first preference votes,
the voter's quote may be prepared trough first preference votes or of transferred votes from an
excess of successful candidates and from the votes which are transferred of excepted candidates
or combining three sources. If there is the election of five senators, the quota required to succeed
each one of single seats is about 16.7 percent; on the other hand, with six voted, the quota is
about 14.3 percent. The working of cabinet government and parliament has not affected