Abstract
The political theory of Australian politics has been dominated, since the election of a Liberal-National Party government in 1996, by claims and counterclaims about electoral mandates. The government has privileged its position in the House of Representatives; opposition parties have pointed to their support in the Senate. This paper provides a historical re-examination of the meanings and merits of mandate theories; it outlines the difficulties posed by strong bicameralism for any mandate theory; and it shows how the rise of survey research has strengthened some claims to a mandate, especially in bicameral systems, while weakening others.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 327-352 |
Number of pages | 26 |
Journal | Australian Journal of Political Science |
Volume | 34 |
Issue number | 3 |
Publication status | Published - Nov 1999 |