On 14/08/13 10:02 AM, Jan Whitaker wrote: > At 07:17 AM 14/08/2013, Frank O'Connor wrote: > >> In Australia the figures are probably about 15 million voters and >> the politician count is up because we have a Parliamentary rather >> than a Republican system of government ... but conversely we have >> less Separation of Powers so the risks are higher for what, in the >> US, would amount to our Congressional elections. > > There are more factors involved, procedural and cultural. > > 1. As a population, we don't have any option to influence at the > 'candidate selection' level in Australia. Parties rule -- either > local branches or power brokers in head office. We get what we're given. >
A little bit of hyperbole there: Join a political party and you'll (probably) be able to influence candidate selection for that party. Hey - if you're keen join all the parties and influence the selection of all candidates. > > 4. But frankly, most people in America just ignore the > government. It may appear to be this on-going circus, but really, no > one really cares very much, which is why they don't vote very much, > although that has been trending higher recently. One thing that > struck me when I arrived here many years ago was this difference of > political engagement in Australia. > If you go by the posts from my Facebook friends, a lot of them care quite a lot. Kerry -- Kerry Webb Canberra, Australia Asked what he'd change if he had to design the Internet all over again, Sir Tim Berners-Lee replied "Oh yes: sigs. I'd ban them. They're a bloody menace." _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
