Beschreibung:
Compulsory voting has operated in Australia for a century, and remains the best known and arguably the most successful example of the practice globally. By probing that experience from several disciplinary perspectives, this book offers a fresh, up-to-date insight into the development and distinctive functioning of compulsory voting in Australia. By juxtaposing the Australian experience with that of other representative democracies in Europe and North America, the volume also offers a much needed comparative dimension to compulsory voting in Australia. A unifying theme running through this study is the relationship between compulsory voting and democratic well-being. Can we learn anything from Australia's experience of the practice that is instructive for the development of institutional bulwarks in an era when democratic politics is under pressure globally? Or is Australia's case sui generis - best understood in the final analysis as an intriguing outlier?
Compulsory voting has operated in Australia for a century, and remains the best known and arguably the most successful example of the practice globally. By probing that experience from several disciplinary perspectives, this book offers a fresh, up-to-date insight into the development and distinctive functioning of compulsory voting in Australia. By juxtaposing the Australian experience with that of other representative democracies in Europe and North America, the volume also offers a much needed comparative dimension to compulsory voting in Australia. A unifying theme running through this study is the relationship between compulsory voting and democratic well-being. Can we learn anything from Australia’s experience of the practice that is instructive for the development of institutional bulwarks in an era when democratic politics is under pressure globally? Or is Australia’s case sui generis – best understood in the final analysis as an intriguing outlier?
Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: How Australia Got Compulsory Voting.- Chapter 3: ‘A Lonely and Quixotic Battle’: A Short History of Agitation Against Compulsory Voting in Australia.- Chapter 4: Assessing Objections to Compulsory Voting in Australia.- Chapter 5: Public Opinion and Compulsory Voting in Australia.- Chapter 6: Non-Participation in Australian National Elections: Fault-Lines in the Compulsory Voting Consensus.- Chapter 7: Becoming an Informed Voter: Compulsory Voting and Developing Political Knowledge in Australia.- Chapter 8: ‘Choice of the Manner in Which Thou Wilt Die’: The Australian Courts on Compulsory Voting.- Chapter 9: Compulsory Voting: Activating the Demos and Enhancing Procedural Democracy in Australia.- Chapter 10: Public Reason, Compulsory Voting and Australian Democracy.- Chapter 11: More Representation, Less Radicalism: How Compulsory Voting Was Defended in Europe.- Chapter 12: Compulsory Voting: The View from Canada and the United States.
