Speaking For The People

Representation in Australian Politics

Marian Sawer, Gianni Zappalà
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Speaking For The People

Published

9 May 2013

ISBN

9780522863482

Ebook File Size

2.4MB

Imprint

Melbourne University Press

Speaking For The People

Representation in Australian Politics

Marian Sawer, Gianni Zappalà
Speaking for the People introduces the concepts of representation that lie at the heart of representative democracy.
'At a time when there is major change taking place in Australian politics as old loyalties are eroded, and there is increasing evidence of alienation of some sections of the electorate from perceived "elites", this analysis of the weaknesses in existing methods of representation is most timely.' Dr Dennis Woodward, Monash University Without the belief that others can represent their interests, citizens will withdraw their trust from parliamentary institutions. Today this trust is fragile. Politicians appear to have a different set of policy priorities from those of the people they represent. We are now witnessing demands for citizen-initiated referenda, a popularly elected president and other means of bypassing the role of elected representatives. Speaking for the People explores for the first time the distinctive ways in which Australians have thought about and practised representation, incorporating a ground-breaking analysis of non-parliamentary institutions of representation. Whether and how meaningful a voice can…
'At a time when there is major change taking place in Australian politics as old loyalties are eroded, and there is increasing evidence of alienation of some sections of the electorate from perceived "elites", this analysis of the weaknesses in existing methods of representation is most timely.' Dr Dennis Woodward, Monash University Without the belief that others can represent their interests, citizens will withdraw their trust from parliamentary institutions. Today this trust is fragile. Politicians appear to have a different set of policy priorities from those of the people they represent. We are now witnessing demands for citizen-initiated referenda, a popularly elected president and other means of bypassing the role of elected representatives. Speaking for the People explores for the first time the distinctive ways in which Australians have thought about and practised representation, incorporating a ground-breaking analysis of non-parliamentary institutions of representation. Whether and how meaningful a voice can be given to all groups within our society is one of the many questions this book addresses. Marian Sawer and Gianni Zappalà bring together old and new concepts of political representation and highlight what is distinctively Australian in our practices of representation.

Marian Sawer

Marian Sawer

Marian Sawer is an Emeritus Professor and ANU Public Policy Fellow at the ANU Research School of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. Her books include Australia and the New Right (ed.); A Woman's Place: Women and Politics in Australia (with Marian Simms); Sisters in Suits: Women and Public Policy in Australia and Speaking for the People: Representation in Australian Politics (co-edited with Gianni Zappalà) (MUP).

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Gianni Zappalà

Gianni Zappalà

Gianni Zappalà is an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Centre for Social Impact. He has previously been Research Co-ordinator at the Smith Family and a Visiting Fellow in the Political Science Program, Research School of Social Sciences, ANU. He is author of Four Weddings, a Funeral and a Family Reunion: Ethnicity and Representation in Australian Federal Politics (1997) and editor of Speaking for the People: Representation in Australian Politics (MUP 1997, with Marian Sawer).

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