Political Parties in Transition

Australian politics have been dominated for nearly a century by two more or less continuous political groupings, Labor and the Liberal-National Coalition. But in recent decades, Australians have embraced a new range of issues (gender, the environment, Indigenous rights etc.). Over this same period, major party membership has collapsed and the party organisations have lost influence. Meantime, globalisation creates a new external imperative.Some scholars describe major party responses to these developments as tantamount to the actions of a cartel. They base this on the introduction of such changes as public funding, which disproportionately favours incumbents. They also point to the loss of political choice that has resulted from agreement between elites of both major parties about policy fundamentals, particularly economic strategy.As a consequence, the political conversation increasingly involves manufactured differences, half-truths, opportunism and wedge tactics. In this context, many signs point to the weakened hold of the established parties on the loyalties of electors. But a more volatile, less trusting and more differentiated electorate is not by itself sufficient to undermine the durability of the two party system.The established parties can exploit their dominance of the major institutions of government and communications (executive, parliament, the media etc) to preserve their standing and to undermine new entrants. The extent to which such factors are shaping the development of Australia's political system is explored in this collection. Are Australia's major parties acting like a cartel?Marsh, Ian is the author of 'Political Parties in Transition ', published 2006 under ISBN 9781862875937 and ISBN 1862875936.