The Presidentialization of Parties in Australia

Abstract

Australian political parties in the contemporary era are undoubtedly leader-centered organizations. From an electoral perspective, there is a strong relationship between the popularity of a political party’s leader and its success at the polls (Bean and Mughan, 1989; Bean, 1993, p. 129). This is not surprising, given that a leader is essentially the “public face” of a party. In Westminster democracies, where there is a close connection between the leader of the parliamentary party and the leader of the party as a whole (Heidar and Koole, 2000, p. 254), a leader’s ability to work with both arms of the party (parliamentary and extra-parliamentary) is crucial in maintaining party unity. The question considered in this chapter is whether this influence amounts to what might be termed a “presidentialization” of party politics in Australia, and whether this process has intensified over time.