Cynicism, discontent, frustration and a sense of disempowerment have always existed at the margins of democracy, ebbing and flowing according to socio-political and economic events. However, disillusionment and disappointment with our political systems is now increasingly the province of the majority rather than the feckless few – attested to by the success of Donald Trump, the Brexit camp in Britain, and Pauline Hanson's One Nation party in Australia.
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An even more sobering assessment of the dissatisfaction now colouring popular attitudes to representative democracy was contained in the latest Australian Election Study. Of a representative sample of 2818 people surveyed after the July federal election, just 26 per cent of Australians said government could be trusted; only 12 per cent believed government acted in the best interest of all Australians; and 52 per cent felt that politicians were out of touch with the concerns of voters. It's been years, sometimes decades, since the study elicited similar levels of pessimism.
Researchers also found interest levels in leaders' debates and election outcomes had dropped noticeably, with just 21 per cent of respondents saying they had watched Bill Shorten debating Malcolm Turnbull on national television and only 65 per cent expressing a keen interest in which party won the federal election.
It may be tempting for politicians to dismiss these sentiments as the carping of malcontents. Cynicism, after all, is not confined to the voting masses, and the parties travel safe in the knowledge that they control the rules of the game. The large sums they receive from corporate or union backers (and from the public purse) further insulate them from the need to address voter concerns. Even compulsory voting and proportional representation act as safeguards against the threat of electoral backlash.
Yet it cannot have escaped the attention of the major parties (particularly the ALP) that their primary votes have been dropping steadily as a result of perceptions they are beholden to elites, that their once-safe lower house seats are being increasingly captured by independents and minor party candidates, and that voter turnout is falling. All three trends were prominent in the recent by-election for the seat of Orange in the NSW Parliament – the former National Party stronghold won narrowly by the Fishers, Shooters and Farmers Party.
If Australia's political system needs to change – as this survey suggests – the good news is that possible solutions have already been widely canvassed. These include, among other things, reforming campaign donation laws to ensure greater transparency, giving party rank and file members a greater say in pre-selections, and changing Parliamentary rules which limit party and executive fiat and encourage more meaningful and productive debate.
The bad news is that the Labor and Coalition parties have long track records of resisting measures to improve democratic processes. Only louder and more insistent voter discontent is likely to persuade these defenders of the status quo that change is necessary.
