Federal Election Campaign Research Articles

Clipping Coupons for Democracy: An Egalitarian/Public Choice Defense of Campaign Finance Vouchers

This Article proposes a market-based alternative to our current unpopular regime for financing federal election campaigns. Under the proposal, each voter receives vouchers for federal elections to contribute either to candidates directly or to interest groups; with limited exceptions, only funds from the voucher system could be spent to support or oppose candidates for elected federal offices. Using public choice theory, Professor Hasen argues that the voucher plan would promote an egalitarian political market in which each person has roughly equal political capital regardless of preexisting disparities in wealth, education, or organizational ability. After demonstrating that the current campaign finance regime favors wealthy and well-organized interests at the expense of the poor and those with diffuse interests, the author identifies four distinct benefits of the voucher proposal. First, the voucher proposal minimizes the role of wealth in the political process and facilitates the organization of those individuals who currently lack political capital. Second, the proposal is likely to promote a stable transition to a more egalitarian political order and a more chaotic, though fairer, legislative process. Third, the voucher proposal's market orientation registers the intensity of voter preferences well. Finally, the proposal has a realistic chance of being enacted and of passing constitutional muster. The author concludes by demonstrating the superiority of the voucher plan under the four criteria to non-voucher public financing of Congressional campaigns, proportional representation, and group-based political solutions

Unions and Collective Bargaining in 2010

An increase in both union members and density, together with the re-election of a Labor government, albeit a minority one, were positive developments for Australian trade unions in 2010. Anticipated changes to the leadership of the Australian Council of Trade Unions occurred with the departure of Sharan Burrow and Ged Kearney assuming the presidency. The Fair Work Act 2009 began to be bedded down with modern awards taking effect from 1 January. Despite the efforts of the federal opposition, the shadow of Work Choices affected the federal election campaign. Unions experienced difficult relationships with state governments across the political spectrum. Asbestos continued to be one of the primary workplace safety issues, while fatalities on the waterfront and the 40th anniversary of the Westgate Bridge disaster served as reminders of the importance of adequate regulatory standards.

E-Electioneering 2010: Trends in Social Media Use in Australian Political Communication

In the wake of the ‘turning point’ 2004 US presidential election, the Obama campaign of 2008, the 2010 UK election and e-democracy movements globally, Australians went to the polls in 2010 in a media-hyped flurry of tweeting, YouTube videos, Facebook befriending and ‘liking’, blogging and other social media activities. Following a study showing that the 2007 Australian election was not a ‘YouTube election’, as claimed by many media and commentators, and that social media use in the campaign was mostly non-interactive promotional messaging, a study was undertaken during the 2010 federal election campaign to gain comparative data and updated insights. This article reports quantitative and qualitative content analysis of social media use by 206 federal political candidates and the two major political parties during the 2010 Australian election to identify trends in the volume of e-electioneering content and activity, as well as the main ways in which social media are being used in political communication.

The Campaign and its Dynamics at the 2009 German General Election

This article analyses the 2009 German federal election campaign with specific emphasis on the three categories of actors that play key roles in contemporary election campaigns – parties and their candidates, the mass media, and the voters. Mainly aiming at a theoretically informed comprehensive description, the article addresses some key themes of the recent literature on electioneering. The Bundestag election on 27 September 2009 was preceded by a campaign that lacked drama. There were several reasons for the absence of a more polarised campaign, not least the fact that CDU/CSU and SPD had been tied together in a Grand Coalition and had to deal with massive political challenges. Against the background of an unclear picture painted by the media, the feasibility and likelihood of various types of government coalitions were dominant topics of the campaign. The CDU/CSU in many respects had an edge over the SPD.

Getting evidence into policy: The need for deliberative strategies?

Getting evidence into policy is notoriously difficult. In this empirical case study we used document analysis and key informant interviews to explore the Australian federal government’s policy to implement a national bowel cancer screening programme, and the role of evidence in this policy. Our analysis revealed a range of institutional limitations at three levels of national government: within the health department, between government departments, and across the whole of government. These limitations were amplified by the pressures of the 2004 Australian federal election campaign. Traditional knowledge utilisation approaches, which rely principally on voluntarist strategies and focus on the individual, rather than the institutional level, are often insufficient to ensure evidence-based implementation. We propose three alternative models, based on deliberative strategies which have been shown to work in other settings: review of the evidence by a select group of experts whose independence is enshrined in legislation and whose imprimatur is required before policy can proceed; use of an advisory group of experts who consult widely with stakeholders and publish their review findings; or public discussion of the evidence by the media and community groups who act as more direct conduits to the decision-makers than researchers. Such deliberative models could help overcome the limitations on the use of evidence by embedding public review of evidence as the first step in the institutional decision-making processes.

What Counts as an Education Revolution?

Australia's education revolution fell short of expectations. The idea of a revolution was the integrating theme of the Labor Government's policy in education over the past three years. However, the term was rarely used in the recent federal election campaign. The new prime minister, Julia Gillard, served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education under former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and led the effort to create the revolution. Surprisingly, after the election, Gillard did not even use the word education in the titles of the ministers she appointed. The word was inserted into those ministers' titles only a few minutes before they were sworn in and after a public and professional out cry. There are now three, possibly four, ministers who may set policies that might have an effect on education. There is a Minister for School Education, Early Childhood, and Youth (Peter Garrett), a Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs, and Workplace Relations (Chris Evans), a Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science, and Research (Kim Carr), and a Minister for Broadband, Communications, and the Digital Economy (Stephen Conroy). It is sobering to ponder the implications of this fragmented lineup. Consider the fields of technology and innovation. Delivery lies with Garrett, preservice teacher education lies with Evans, research in postgraduate programs lies with Carr, and broadband rollout to schools lies with Conroy. The situation is even more complex than it first appears because, according to the Australian constitution, the federal government has no role in education. The situation is similar to that in the United States. Power over education resides with the states; federal influence derives from the federal government's powers to make conditional grants to the states under a series of national partnership agreements. Digital Education Revolution One such agreement concerns the Digital Education Revolution (DER) signed in May 2009. The central purpose of DER was to ensure one computer for each secondary school student in grades 9 to 12, with a total estimated cost of AU $2.207 billion over six years. This cost estimate included fiber-to-the-premises broadband connections, preser-vice teacher education, and professional development for teachers. The federal government contributed about 70% of the costs, and the states contributed about 30% before the start of the agreement. By mid-2010, it became clear that the DER rollout was occurring at about half the pace needed to reach the target by December 2011. …

Political Chronicles

The year 2010 was to be another historic year for the state, celebrating the sesquicentenary of Queensland's parliament in May, but it was not these celebrations that dominated the first half of the year. Instead attention was more often focused on the falling stocks of Anna Bligh's Labor government. The fallout from Labor's privatisation plans continued to trouble the government. The announcement that the state's financial position was not as dire as previously thought did not improve the government's electoral standing, but instead was used to reignite the dialogue about the necessity of the sales. The government's position was not helped by the collapse of the new payroll system for the state's hospital employees. Health was not the only troubled area. The release of a Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) report criticising the police investigation into the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee in 2004 ensured that police culture remained in the public eye. Despite the troubled position of the Bligh Labor government the Liberal National Party (LNP) was unable to unambiguously capitalise on Labor's failings - instead it suffered from its own internal problems, including several high-profile defections. All of this meant that leading into the federal election campaign period neither party was in a dominant position.

Hiding the Elephant: Child Care Coverage in Four Daily Newspapers

As more adult women with young children have entered the paid labour force in the last decade, more Canadian families are seeking access to affordable child care. One might expect to observe a measurable and decided increase in coverage of child care in major media in that time. Yet, in terms of articles recorded and analyzed in four major Canadian dailies, child care has remained marginal, moving in and out of the spotlight and often all but disappearing. Even the Toronto Star, which covered the issue the most frequently of the dailies examined, had coverage that varied markedly between 2000 and 2007. By counting articles about child care, we found that the greatest jumps in coverage in all four dailies were spikes in 2000 and 2005-2006-coinciding with federal election campaigns. A closer look at the 2005- 2006 period revealed that the National Post had the least extensive coverage. Nonetheless, it too had higher than its normal coverage during the campaign. At that time the newspapers’ coverage nearly doubled, in all but one paper, before falling to their average (low) yearly coverage, in 2007- again, despite a continuing unmet demand for affordable child care among Canadian families.

‘Miniature Campaigns’ in Comparison: The German Televised Debates, 2002–09

Given that US-style televised debates were held for the third time in a row in a German federal election campaign, it seems fair to say that they have become an institutionalised feature of German campaigns. Although a number of studies have analysed (single) German debates, comparative work covering the full set of debates is still lacking. The aim of this paper is to reveal patterns and trends in a) debate exposure, b) the evaluation of the candidates' debate performances and c) debate effects. To this purpose, a pooled data set for the 2002, 2005 and 2009 debates is analysed. Consistent evidence is found that cognitive as well as partisan mobilisation increases the probability of watching debates. Concerning the impact of debates, it is found that debate exposure has a mobilising effect – especially among those less interested in politics. In addition, we find a considerable impact of debates on party choice – with the effects reflecting patterns of ‘reinforcement’ as well as ‘conversion’. The greatest debate effects can be observed for independent voters. Given these results, televised debates are not only an institutionalised feature of German campaigns, but also a powerful and hence possibly decisive one.

Chasing the Youth Vote: Kevin07, Web 2.0 and the 2007 Australian Federal Election

The 2007 Australian federal election was the first in which the online campaign and Web 2.0 technologies moved into the mainstream. Though not the first election campaign where political parties had maintained an internet presence, it was the first in which Facebook friends of party leaders were compared in the mainstream press, the first where YouTube videos became election issues and the first where online interactions between parties and party supporters were reported as real and breaking news. Amongst all of the online campaigning, though, it was the Australian Labor Party (ALP) that was widely recognised as presenting the best and most effective online presence. With a site that embraced social networking tools, hosted online video, included regular blog posts from leading party figures and drew on user contributions for content, the ALP’s Kevin07.com.au brought the election campaign to Australia’s online community in a way that was without equal in this or any previous election. The site, widely held to be aimed at drawing young people to the ALP, was judged an unqualified success in the wake of the ALP’s historic November win where the party secured a significant majority of the youth vote. The role of the Kevin07.com.au site in drawing young people to the ALP is, however, open to debate. Indeed, when one considers pre-election polling data, it becomes clear that young voters had established firm voting intentions long before the ALP’s online campaign was launched.This paper is presented in four parts. The first presents a review of the increasingly important role played by the online elements of an Australian federal election campaign. Tracing an eleven year, four election period from 1996 to 2007, this section traces the growing focus of political parties, the mainstream media and voters on the online presence of campaigning parties. The second part of this paper presents the ALP’s Kevin07.com.au site, the centrepiece of the ALP’s online campaign for young voters. The third part of this paper offers evidence that contradicts the notion that the online campaign of the ALP was effective in winning young voters to their cause. Specifically, by considering opinion poll data from 2005 until the election in November 2007 it is clear that while there was a significant rise in support for the ALP amongst young people, this rise occurred many months before the launch of the website and can be attributed to the party’s change in leadership. A discussion section follows and the paper concludes by suggesting that – for a number of reasons – the 2007 election was an anomaly in terms of the impact of the internet on the voting intentions of Australian youth and that future campaigning online may well have a measureable and significant effect in drawing young people to a political party.

Campaign cartoons: no more man of steel

This article tracks the waning of John Howard's authority as leader during the Australian federal election campaign of 2007 by focusing on the political cartoons in major newspapers. Political cartoons as analysed in this piece provide two interlinked things of interest to political analysts: (1) a clear account of the ebb and flow of election campaigns; and (2) a good gauge of political ‘strength’ of individuals as it is projected in the media. The story they tell for the 2007 campaign in Australia is of a tired government led by a once-strong leader who came to look faintly ridiculous in the face of circumstances he could no longer control.

Drawn to the Polls? Representations of Canadian Voters in Editorial Cartoons

This study examines representations of Canadian voters in the editorial cartoons printed by Canada’s national newspapers, The Globe and Mail and the National Post, during the 2004, 2006, and 2008 federal election campaigns. The authors argue that a consistent narrative is presented in the cartoons, a story of “citizens without democracy.” Despite widespread disinterest in elections amongst the Canadian public, evidenced by a steady decline in voter turnout, editorial cartoonists did not depict voting-age citizens as apathetic non-participants. Instead, the cartoonists situated voters as innocent bystanders to, or cynical observers of, the self-interested antics of political parties, news media, and pollsters. As such, these “editorials in pictures” blamed politicians and governments, not voters, for the failures of electoral democracy in Canada.

Kurt Hohenstein . Coining Corruption: The Making of the American Campaign Finance System. DeKalb : Northern Illinois University Press . 2007 . Pp. x, 310. $45.00.

In this thoughtful, well-researched book, Kurt Hohenstein traces the ways that dominant conceptions of political corruption have changed over time, and he persuasively documents the implications of these changing understandings for the regulation of campaign finance. In doing so, he successfully fuses political and policy history with legal history, analyzing reform efforts in Congress with the same insight that he brings to explaining the evolution of legal doctrine in court decisions. At the heart of Hohenstein's text is a long-term struggle between a narrow and an expanded definition of corrupt political practice that demanded regulation. A quid pro quo conception of corruption targeted only the delivery of tangible favors in return for campaign contributions; an expanded definition supported a wider-ranging regulatory regime in order to promote deliberative democracy. Emphasizing the importance of free speech in politics, the Supreme Court's landmark Buckley v. Valeo decision of 1976 adopted the former understanding, and it influentially limited the constitutionally permissible extent of campaign finance regulation. Although it is the narrow conception of corruption that became dominant, Hohenstein persuasively shows that the Supreme Court overlooked a reform tradition that was friendly to regulation for the promotion of effective democratic discourse. In post-Watergate amendments of the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act—tested in Buckley—Congress had “tended to ignore the broad principles of equality and democratic deliberation that most previous campaign finance reforms had addressed” (p. 222), thus squandering the opportunity offered by scandal for more extensive change. As the Buckley decision then revealed, courts saw the freedom of speech as the best way to protect democratic freedoms; “the decreasing political competence of courts caused them to evaluate and decide cases using individualist principles in which they were trained and with which they were most familiar that allowed them to decide cases without engaging the bigger democratic questions” (p. 216). The result was a definition of corruption that “ignored political reality” (p. 11).

How Would Jesus Vote? The Churches and the Election of the Rudd Government

The Coalition's clear victory over Labor at the 2004 federal election after prominent campaigning by conservative church-based groups – along with the election to the Senate of a member of the Family First party – seemed to many commentators to confirm the growing power of a ‘Religious Right’ in Australia. This paper argues that two features of the 2007 federal election campaign are impossible to square with the rise of the Religious Right thesis. First, Labor won in 2007 without shifting its leadership, policies or electoral strategy to suit the Christian Right. Second, the contributions of church groups to the 2007 election campaign were not dominated by a single perspective but covered a wide range of issues and expressed competing views on key policy issues. This pluralism allowed Kevin Rudd, the Labor Party and even the Greens room to present themselves favourably to significant groups of Christian voters. The 2007 election suggests that, rather than being dominated by a hegemonic Christian Right, church involvement in Australian electoral politics is pluralistic in character.

From 'Workchoices' to 'Fair Work'

FOCUS □ LABOURLAWREFORMANDTHE ORGANISING AGENDA From 'Workchoices' to 'Fair Work' Rae Cooper examines the efforts of Australia'sLabor government to 'rip up' the Workchoices industrial relationsregime RAE COOPER isSenior Lecturer in Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney y ippingup Workchoices and creating a® fairer, simpler system' was themantra of Mm the Rudd oppositionthroughout the 2007Australian federal election campaign. Inthat campaign, themostheateddebateswereseen in theareaofindustrial relations. The (then)Prime Minister, JohnHoward,his Ministers and their supporters in the businesscommunity argued thatWorkchoices ,thefinal pieceofindustrial legislationpassed duringthe government's term, was a 'modern' and'simple' waytoregulate work and workplace relations. Plenty disagreed. Unionsran a sophisticated multi-million dollar campaign underthe Yourrights @ work ' banner and theircampaignstruck a chordin thecommunity , partly becausethere was ampleevidence thatWorkchoices had indeedundermined rights, and standards, in Australian workplaces.The (then) oppositionleader,KevinRudd,and his Workplace Relations spokesperson, JuliaGillard, flayedthegovernment witheverypiece of evidencethatWorkchoices was creating hardship for 'working families'. Therest ishistory. KevinRudd was electedas Prime Minister, as Laborwonon a landslide largely on thebackofantiWorkchoices sentiment. JohnHoward lost his seat,the first Prime Minister todo so ina general election since Stanley Brucein 1929Themuch -anticipated Laborlegislation, theFair WorkBill,running to over600 pages,was presented to the House of Representatives in November of2008justafter theoneyearanniversary oftheelection. Atthetime ofwriting this article ,theprovisions oftheBillwerebeingreviewed bytheSenateStanding Committee on Education, Employment and Workplace Relations who were intheprocessofholding publichearings on the Bill'scontent. It is anticipated thatthe Billwill pass the Senatein late Marchor earlyAprilof 2009,butfollowing from theSenatereview, and inthecontext ofglobalrecession, itcouldwelldo so inamendedform. Individualcontracting Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs)were first introduced by the Howardgovernment in 1996,viathat government's keypieceofindustrial legislation, theWorkplace Relations Act.These statutory individual contracts were secret,they were 'negotiated' betweenan individual worker and their employer, they'trumped' thetraditional instruments determining the pay and conditions of Australianworkers,namely awards (legallyenforceable industry rulings on pay and conditions towhichunionswereparty) as wellas union-bargained collective agreements.They wereused extensively as a deviceforde-unionisationand theyfacilitated thecontracting outof collectively negotiated standards. When Workchoices amendedthe Workplace Relations Actin2005,theregulations governing AWAs - for exampletheywerejudgedagainst a significantly lowerstandard - made theirimpacteven more corrosive to unionbargaining and to takehome pay and working conditions. The Ruddopposition and the Labor Workplace Relations spokesperson, JuliaGillard, capitalised uponevidenceofdisadvantage atthehandsofAWAs and vowedto removethem Two majorpieces of legislation were introduced to the AustralianParliament by Julia Gillard in2008.Thefirst, theWorkplace Relations Amendment ( Transition to Forward with Fairness) Act2008(Cth)(the'Transition Act')was introduced to Parliament in February and came intoeffect on 28 March2008.ThisActwas the government's first steptowardimplementing the promises it outlined in the Forward with Fairness ' policyittookthe2007federal election. In a movewhichwas welcomedbycritics ofthe Howardgovernment's industrial relations agenda , the Transition Act removedthe optionof makingnew AWAs. However,thisis notto say thatstatutory individual contracts wereremoved altogether. The Transition Act allowed existing AWAs to carry on indefinitely and established a temporary optionforemployers alreadyusing AWAs, Individual Transitional Employment Agreements (ITEAs). WhiletheseITEAswereto be judged by a (higher) standard than Workchoices AWAs making themharder to make and less able to undercut standards, thegovernmentnonetheless has been criticised forfalling short ofitselectionpromise to 'tearup' AWAs. Unfair dismissal Workchoices reconfigured the Australian 'unfair dismissal' framework. It gave an exemption on unfair dismissalactionforemployers withless thanone hundred employees. Ineffect this meant that employees inbusinesses ofthissizecouldbe dismissed without beinggivenwarning orexplanationand were leftwithno legal recourse. In addition,Workchoices introduced a new exemption ,on the groundsof 'operational reasons', whichemployers ofanysizecouldusewhendismissing employees. Again, theeffect was toleave dismissed employees with nolegalremedy andto giveemployers significant scope to hireand fire 'atwill'.Together thechangesto unfair dismissal lead todiminution inworker employment securityand generated significant publicoutcry about theextent towhichitfacilitated theoperation of nakedemployer prerogative. The FairWorkBill removesthe Workchoices blanketexemption on employers of enterprises with100orfewer employees as well'operational reasons'dismissals from theunfair dismissal legINTERNATIONAL union rights Page8 Volume 16Issue 2 2009 islation. However, theBilldoes notreturn to the preWorkcboices situation andtheframework has clearly been crafted withan eyeto thedemands for'flexibility' frombusiness.For instance, the Bill sets out a staged qualifying period for employeesto access unfairdismissalaction. Thereis a six-month qualifying periodforlarger business(definedas morethan15 employees) anda 12-month qualifying periodforsmallbusiness (15 orfewer employees). Minimum standards Traditionally in Australia minimawere set by industry awards,which were detailed,legally enforceable documents setting outtheterms and conditionsin a given industry or occupation. Thesedocuments werethemechanism bywhich conciliation and arbitration tribunals - federally, the Australian Industrial RelationsCommission (AIRC)- resolved industrial disputes...

The Northwest Passage in Canadian Policy

Over the past decade there has been an Arctic revival of sorts in Canadian politics. Recent events have boosted the region's visibility on the political landscape and the north has found a new prominence in government policy. The media's reaction to the dispute with Denmark over tiny Hans Island, the aggressive Russian claims to the continental shelf, and the increasing concern generated by global warming's melting of the Arctic icecap have all contributed to the Arctic's return to national prominence.At the centre of the Canadian government's new northern policies is a concern for the status of the Northwest Passage. Of the many issues that fall into the category of Arctic sovereignty, the status of the waters and ice that make up the passage remains by far the most visible and the most important. From the federal election campaign of 2005 to the present, when the government has spoken of Arctic sovereignty, it has usually been to those waters it was referring.The philosophy underlying the current government's policy has always been straightforward. It assumes sovereignty to be a matter of physical control, won and maintained through the exercise of force. And in large measure it is correct, since without a certain measure of control no state can properly claim the exercise of sovereignty. To this end the government has announced a number of major Arctic projects, from patrol craft and icebreakers to a deepwater port, all intended to increase the Canadian presence in the region and make clear to foreign states that Canada is serious about defending its sovereignty.This increased presence is indeed a necessary step towards repairing Canada's declining capabilities in the region. Ottawa's ability to exercise authority over the northern waters is declining and, unless some action is taken, may soon fall below the point at which Canada can legitimately claim effective occupation. Yet, while the need for new patrol ships, a deepwater port, and most of the other items promised by the government is apparent, the focus and the underlying philosophy ofthe Harper government needs to be questioned.Any practical attempt to defend Arctic sovereignty should focus on two objectives: improving Canada's ability to exercise its jurisdiction in the region - namely enforcing pollution- control regulations and Canadian law while carrying out the everyday duties of a sovereign power; and improving (or at the very least maintaining) Canada's legal position - essentially ensuring that nothing transpires in the Arctic that might set a precedent damaging to Canadian claims. These are two intertwined yet distinct objectives. A policy that achieves these aims, without having to gamble Canadian sovereignty at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), is what is required to defend Canadian sovereignty in the 21st century.The government's plans for the Arctic seem designed to achieve neither of these objectives effectively. Some ofthe most expensive elements ofthe new policy are generally ill suited to the everyday tasks of exercising jurisdiction. Nor would they be the most cost-effective means of improving Canada's legal position. If used too aggressively, some elements could even prove counterproductive.The Conservative policy is primarily based on projecting power into the Arctic. Yet Arctic sovereignty cannot rest on military strength alone. What is required is a plan that avoids the confrontational approach the government seems intent upon pursuing. Canada needs a long-term policy that provides practical solutions in cooperation with, rather than in opposition to, the United States and the rest ofthe world. Most of all, Canada requires an Arctic policy that, rather than attempting to force foreign governments to accept Canadian sovereignty, brings them to do so out of self-interest.THE NORTHWEST PASSAGEFor decades the effects of global warming have been steadily eroding the sea ice in the north. …

Elder Participation and Senior Power in Australian Electoral Politics

ABSTRACT This article seeks to assess the “goodness of fit” between the social science literature on the impact of older voters on electoral outcomes and the Australian experience of the politics of aging. While the literature suggests that the notion of senior power is a flawed one, Australia's 2004 federal election campaign indicated that this is not quite so. This article offers a possible explanation for the difference between the literature and the Australian experience in terms of the calculus that underpinned the election campaign, namely, capturing the votes of swing voters in marginal seats including “silver” swing voters in seats with a disproportionate number of older voters. The preliminary findings of a small exploratory study of campaign strategists suggest that there may be a real basis to this explanation. Thus, there does appear to be some basis for asserting that “gray power” does play a role in Australian national electoral politics.

Playing possum: Straws in the wind of the blogosphere

This article discusses the blog Possum Pollytics that became very well regarded by its readers, other bloggers and journalists over the course of the 2007 Australian federal election campaign, and examines it for harbingers of the impact of new media on journalists and their publics. The article commences with an account of the main features of the blog, with special reference to its analysis of the voting trends evident in the pre-election opinion polls. It then discusses two issues with respect to the challenge posed by new media uses to professional journalism: firstly, the way that the anonymity highlights the challenge by some bloggers on behalf of publics to the brandname mastheads and journalistic personalities, particularly in the challenging circumstances of no business model for new media; and secondly, that Habermas’ early theorising of the public sphere might re-emerge as a valuable way to understand the current developments.

Electoral Impact of Televised Leaders' Debates on Australian Federal Elections

Since 1984, every Australian federal election campaign except 1987 has featured at least one televised debate between the leaders of the major parties. These debates have been the subject of considerable speculation, particularly in the popular press. However, initial enthusiasm and optimism has been replaced, in part, by skepticism and indifference about their impact. Although viewing audiences for the early debates were large, audiences have steadily declined in more recent campaigns. Although televised debates are ostensibly an established part of federal elections, their influence on individual vote choice and aggregate impact on the vote has received little academic attention. This paper considers each campaign since 1990 and, using data from The Australian Election Study series, it assesses the impact of leaders' debates on individual vote choice. It investigates whether the impact varies for different groups of the electorate, considering the role of partisan identification, as well as whether any influence of the debates extends beyond the actual viewing audience. Finally, it estimates the aggregate impact on the vote attributable to the debates.

The Politics of Industrial Relations in Australia in 2007

Industrial Relations proved to be one of the dominant issues in the 2007 federal election campaign with the Government at first defending, and then moderating, their Work Choices legislation. The Labor Opposition benefited greatly from the successful Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) campaign against Work Choices and established a significant electoral advantage on the issue. Labor introduced its own IR policy alternative under the banner `Forward with Fairness' and then spent a good deal of 2007 trying to sell its policy to business. The final policy adopted by Labor, and set to become law over the next few years, represents something of a calculated political compromise. When the detail of the policy is considered the influence of the Work Choices laws is still very much apparent.