absent vote

A vote cast by voters who are out of their division but still within their State or Territory which may be cast at any polling place in that State or Territory.

absolute majority

(50%+1 vote). A term used to compare the least votes a winning candidate may need in a preferential single member voting system compared with that of first- past-the-post systems of other countries where a “majority” may well be less than 50%.  Also a concept used in some parliamentary votes where a simple majority of all members present is not enough.

adjournment  

Temporary interruption during a parliamentary session.

anarchy

A condition of lawlessness and disorder brought about by the absence of any controlling authority.

apparatchik

A member of communist party machine; derogatory term for a political party zealot.

approval voting

First Past the Post voting but with the added concept that one can tick (approve of) as many candidates’ names as one wishes. A simpler form of preferential voting eliminating the chances of minority candidates winning when too many mainstream candidates run against each other.

backbencher

A member of Parliament (government or opposition) who is not in a leadership role in their party but merely sits literally on the back bench.

ballot

A method of secret voting, normally in a written form.

ballot paper

A paper handed to each voter on election day to be marked, showing the names of the candidates (and sometimes the parties) who are standing for election.

block voting

In multi-member electorates, each voter having the same number of votes as the number of vacant seats (must tick off [say] four names). This has the effect of minimising the chances of minority candidates winning seats.

bourgeois

Marxist term now used to describe middle class professionals living a relatively luxurious life style.

by-election

A local election held to fill a suddenly vacated (single member voting) seat due to death, resignation etc.     see also Casual Vacancy

bicameral / unicameral

Government with either two or one house of legislature. France, Sweden, South Korea and New Zealand all have unicameral governments.

capitalism

An economic system based on the recognition of private property rights, where the means of production and distribution of goods and services derive from privately owned resources, or capital,  operating within an unregulated market.

candidate

A person who stands for election to Parliament. In Australia candidates can be nominated by political parties or stand as independents.

casual vacancy [Aust.]

A suddenly vacated Senate seat filled not by an election but by State government appointment.

citizens initiated referendum

A proposed vehicle for legislative or constitutional enactment which bypasses Parliament. As exists in Switzerland and some states of the USA, if a petition for a certain proposition can raise a certain number of signatures then the legislature is compelled to put it to the people at a referendum and then to enact it in law if passed.

common law

The law of the land which comes from neither the statute books nor the constitution but from court law reports. The body of law which originated over centuries from the English courts and adopted and developed in countries using that system. As compared to democratic law, common law is judge maintained and modified law and is valid unless it conflicts with statute law.  

confederalism

A form of federalism where the individual regions that make up the sovereign state exercise a large degree of autonomy. Often the right to secede and the sole right to raise taxes, the funding of the central government coming from the regions. The pre-Civil War slave states of America united to form the Confederated States of America to maintain states’ rights.

conservative

Often taken as synonymous with right wing with a penchant for censorship and state control to protect against ‘immoral’ personal behaviour, but technically an attitude of belief in the established order and suspicious of change.

constituent

A citizen residing in a particular MP’s area or district.

constitution

The set of basic rules by which a country or state is governed. Sometimes includes a Bill of Rights.    The ultimate set of laws to which all other laws made by contemporary governments are subservient to. The strength and integrity of a constitution is often reflected by the difficulty it is to be changed.

constitutional referendum

A proposal to alter the Constitution being put to the public vote. In Australia at a referendum the proposed alteration must be approved by a 'double majority': a national majority of voters in the States and Territories; and a majority of voters in a majority of the States.

coup d’ėtat

Sudden and often violent overthrow of a government.

crossing the floor

An MP crossing the floor of Parliament to vote with his/her opposition. An act rarely forgiven in Commonwealth countries but common in the USA.

direct democracy

Government by the people in fact rather than merely in principle. The citizenry themselves voting on all issues affecting them. Practised in ancient Greece and (to some degree) in some cantons of Switzerland and the New England states of America. Considered by most to be a highly impractical form of government.

division [Aust]

A vote taken in Parliament. Also another name for an electorate.

donkey vote

The excess votes a candidate at the top of the ballot paper will get because of those voters who don’t bother to consider their decision but simply just tick the first box in sight. Otherwise known as the unthinking vote.

‘Dorothy Dixer’

Questionable practice in Australian parliaments where some of the allocated time in ‘Question Time’ is used for back bench MPs to ask their own leaders pre-arranged softball questions.

dynasty

A sequence of hereditary rulers.

electorate

Geographical areas used as a criterion for political representation. Australia is divided into 150 (federal) voting districts or divisions which are known as electorates. One member is elected from each electorate to the House of Representatives. In Parliament the electorate of Batman will be represented by the Member for Batman who will have the Seat of Batman.

enrolment

The pre-requisite to voting. The voters name must be on the electoral roll before he/she can vote. Australian citizens of at least 18 yrs are allowed (and compelled) to enrol. In the USA voters must repeatedly enrol for every election.

equity law

An auxiliary part of common law where the courts not only have authority to modify existing common law to adapt to modern times, but in fact have the power to create original law, overriding  existing common law, in circumstances where is it is deemed that without it, “unconscionable” conduct would occur.  

Fabian Society

A movement founded in 1884 by intellectuals Sidney and  Beatrice Webb and George Bernard Shaw who believed the only possible way to introduce socialism would be in an incremental way using education and gradual legislative changes. Named after the Roman general Fabius Cunctator (“the delayer”) who possessed the patience to defeat the Carthaginian Hannibal by engaging in a slow war of attrition and harassment. 

fascism

An authoritarian and nationalist political ideology that embraces strong leadership, singular collective identity and the will to commit violence or wage war to further the interests of the state. Averse to concepts such as individualism, pluralism, multiculturalism or egalitarianism. The name derives from the collective identity, the league connotation of the Italian fascio, or English faggot, for a bound collection of sticks. The symbol originally used by Mussolini was a ‘fascio’ of sticks bound with that connotation of war, an axe.

federalism

A system under which governmental powers are divided between the central government and the states or provinces all within the same geographical territory. Opposite to a unitary system as exists in the UK, New Zealand or Japan.

fifth columnist

In a military or political environment, a person who surreptitiously undermines a group or entity from within. The Alec Guinness character in the film Dr Zhivago was a fifth columnist.

filibuster

A form of legislative obstruction by an MP by continuing a parliamentary speech for the mere sake of preventing a vote. As the clerk of parliament will set an agenda calendar allocating certain bills for certain days, if the business of reading, debating and voting on one bill is not completed on its allotted day it may be a considerable period of time before it again comes before the house.

first-past-the-post

Electoral system where the winning candidate needs only the most votes, even if well below a majority.  a.k.a.. pluralist voting.

franchise

The right to vote.

free vote
[cmlth countries]

a.k.a. a conscience vote. The rare instance where an M.P. is not obliged to vote according to his/her party’s call. Examples have been the 1996 Victorian drug law reform or the 1995 Northern Territory’s euthanasia law.

fixed term

Concept to describe the set term of office of representatives (eg US House of Reps is a strict two years) as compared to other democracies like the UK where the House of Commons is a maximum of five years but can be shorter at the discretion of the Prime Minister.

fourth estate

The unofficial political institution and authority comprising the press and other forms of the media. Term comes from the first three estates of the French States-General which were the church, the nobility and the townsmen.

general election

Either an election that is not local but is for the state or national governments or an election that is the final arbiter after the preliminary ones have been dispensed with. Can be contrasted to council, primary or by-elections.

gerrymander

How a significant number of equally sized single member electorates become populated with both party voters but to different degrees, to have a partisan and unfair effect on the total vote.

glasnost

A policy that commits government to greater accountability and visibility, such as freedom of information laws. Russian for ‘publicness’.

grievance debate

Short speeches allowed by any MP on any subject but only granted at a specific time per week for a few hours.

Hansard

The official parliamentary record of whatever is said in Parliament.

the hustings

Involved in political campaigning, especially making speeches. The husting was originally a place of assembly at which to speak. US equivalent is “on the stump”, derived from speaking when standing upon a tree stump..

house of representatives

The largest and most influential house of Parliament. Appoints the cabinet and from which the Prime Minister usually comes. Similar to the British House of Commons and known in Australia as the 'People's House' as compared with the Senate being the ‘State’s House’. Each of the 150 members represents approximately 120,000 people or 80,000 voters.

kleptocracy

Cynical term used to describe highly corrupt governments where politicians, bureaucrats and their protected friends engage in sales of government licences, perquisites and other rorts.

laissez-faire

“Let things alone.” An economic system with total or near total abstinence of state interference.

liberal democracy

A vague term to reflect democracy controlled by restraints that only allow the seemingly good. Ie. A constitution or entrenched common law that protects such institutions as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, a moderately free market, an independent judiciary, the rule of law, separation of powers, minority rights and the notion of the individual.

liberalism
(small l)

Loosely described as a modern philosophy which favours change for change’s sake, as well as encompassing a compromising and compassionate attitude to personal lifestyle, law and order, foreign affairs and immigration where policy decisions are often orientated towards those in more straightened circumstances.

liberalism (classic)

A philosophy advocating the rights of the individual as against the state or church as espoused by such eighteenth century English writers as John Locke and J.S. Mill. Causes advocated would be Laissez Faire economics, freedom of speech, the rule of law, extension of the franchise, amelioration in penal practices, and changing views on relations between the sexes and the upbringing of children. In modern times Classic Liberals have become either libertarians or small ‘l’ liberals.

libertarianism

A political philosophy of self reliance, reason and maximum non-interference by the state in matters of both economic and personal affairs. Straddling both left and right, a libertarian would believe in the right to bear arms, access to IVF or hallucinatory drugs for any adult, a free market capitalist economy and the abolition of censorship.

list system P.R.

Above or below the line proportional representation voting. Voters do not have to cast preferences but can tick above the line for the candidates/parties of their choice who themselves choose (before the election) the list of preferred other candidates to which their unused votes will go.

lower house

In Australia the House of Representatives or (state wide) the Legislative Assembly. Generally the more populous and influential legislative house. 

lumpen proletariat

Proletariat without job skills.

mace

Large, intimidating, medieval, hand held weapon. Appears with the speaker in lower houses and used as a symbol of authority.

Machiavellian

Adjective to describe manipulative and cynical political activity where morals and principles have little account. Somewhat unfairly attributed to Renaissance political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli who wrote for an age where government and diplomacy had more life or death consequences.

maiden speech

The first ever speech  given by an MP in Parliament and traditionally granted the courtesy of no interjections.

majority preferential

Preferential voting in single member electorates.

malapportionment

Violating the concept of ‘one person one vote’, the existence of electorates of unequal population sizes yet still having the same number of representatives, whereby a partisan political party advantage can very often develop. The practice is still very common in the United Kingdom.

marginal seat

A S.M.V. electorate where the winning candidate/party only just won the last election and could well lose the next.

nomination

A prerequisite to standing as a political candidate. Made only after the writ for an election has been issued. A financial deposit (which will be returned on the candidate receiving a reasonable number of votes) must also be lodged.

oligarchy

A form of government where rule is by the few and in their own interest.

ombudsman

A concept, originally Swedish, where parliament appoints a person to act as an official watchdog over bureaucracy on behalf of the public. On its own initiative or from public complaints, the Ombudsman will investigate government officials or departments and report its finding to parliament, whereupon action may be taken. The office of the Ombudsman itself has no power to penalise, although in some jurisdictions the Ombudsman can launch criminal prosecutions.

optional preferential voting

Preferential voting where one has the option to choose only the number of preferences as one wishes.

ordinary vote

As compared with a postal vote, a vote cast at a polling place in the elector's home division on polling day.

pairing

An informal practice occurring in Parliamentary systems (where voting cannot be by proxy) where a member of one party will agree not to vote on a specific bill if an opposing member would prefer not to be present. The understanding is that the favour may be reciprocated at a later date.

parliamentary privilege

The privilege while (physically) in Parliament that allows an MP to say anything without fear of prosecution for slander. Also Parliament itself has the privilege to summon, cross-examine, judge and punish entities that have deemed to offend against it. In Italy P.P. grants an MP immunity from arrest for criminal charges.

parliamentary government

A system of government where ultimate authority is vested in the legislative body. The cabinet, including the chief executive, is from, appointed by and responsible to, the legislature (the Parliament).

party line voting

Despite the fact that MPs in Parliament ‘represent’ the residents of their specific electorates, at voting time they will almost always vote (unless an independent) strictly according to their party’s call, i.e. as directed by their leader rather than according to the wishes of their own constituents.

party list voting

Above the line only proportional representation voting. Voters do not cast preferences but the candidates/parties themselves choose (before the election) the list of preferred other candidates to which their unused votes will go.

perestroika

Term to denote political, bureaucratic or economic restructuring first coined by Mikhail Gorbachev with regards to the former Soviet Union.

platform

The political agenda of a candidate or party.

plebiscite

A public vote to gauge public opinion on an issue (such as conscription) which does not affect the constitution nor is otherwise legally binding.   

political party status

Candidates with a common cause can registered at an election as a party, and thus enjoy certain privileges such as ‘above the line’ placement and public funding if attaining a certain percentage of the vote, if they can present to officials the names and address of sufficient numbers of supporters. Certain P.P.S. privileges also apply to winning candidates of a party if their numbers reach a certain threshold.

politico

One interested or engaged in politics.

polity

Form or process of civil government; organized society; the state.

poll

Another word for an election.

polling place/booth

Numerous centres set up in each division to take the votes of the local people.

populist democracy

Ultimate democracy not restricted by a constitution or any other reviewing authority to the passage of legislation or executive orders. The alternative to liberal democracy.

populism

Political campaigning orientated towards true democracy (voting for specific benefits, liberties, law and order programs, etc.)  rather than representative democracy where one votes for a team of alleged responsible candidates who will, at a measured pace and after due deliberation, institute a program under some general theme (even if specific legislation is mentioned). Populists will promise their agenda despite whatever institutional obstructions may exist, while  non-populists will take a more conservative approach respecting the judiciary, the constitution, the bureaucracy and the examples of international approaches to the same issues.

populist poltician

Cynically speaking, how a losing candidate describes a winning candidate. Otherwise, a politician who offers the people what they want irrespective of how moral, feasible or practical it is for such promises to be carried out.

pragmatism

A non-ideological approach to political issues where “the merits of the particular case” may take a higher than normal precedence.

Pravda

State owned and controlled newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1921 and 1991. Russian for ‘truth’.  Derogatory term for media organs such as TV or newspapers which are owned by, or to some degree supported by, government.

preferential voting

Also known as Choice Voting. Voters do not simply tick off one candidate/party but vote for a number in order of their preference with the intention that at the least, one choice will be elected. In Australia the term is sometimes curiously used as a synonym for single member voting.

pre-poll votes

Voting prior to election day by post or attending a special AEC office. Permitted when the voter would be absent on election day.

primary vote

The number of first choice votes that a candidate receives in Preferential voting systems.            See also    Two Party Preferred

private member’s bill

Proposed legislation introduced not by the government or opposition but by just an individual MP.

proletariat

Term used in Marxist ideology to describe the working class who don’t own property and whose only value is their labour.

proportional representation

A voting system where the whole state is just one electorate and parties win seats in proportion to the total votes they receive in an election. Hybrid systems often exist where the state is divided up into a number of multi-member electorates whereby seats won are approximately proportional to the votes cast.

prorogue

To temporarily bring parliament to an end (such as for a summer break) as compared with a dissolution which occurs before an election.

provisional vote

Votes cast at an election in circumstances where a voter's name cannot be found on the roll or has already been marked off the roll. They are not counted until a careful check of enrolment records has been made.

Question Time

One of the tenets of Responsible Government whereby, for a set period of time each sitting day in parliament, government ministers must be answerable to any MP’s questions, even though in practice there is nothing to prevent answers from being evasive.  

quota

In proportional representation systems, the percentage or actual number of votes a candidate needs to win one of the seats available. For Australian half-Senate elections it is approximately 14.3%

quota preferential

Preferential voting used in conjunction with proportional representation.

realpolitik

The politics of realism. Rather than from principle, a self interested approach to politics either from the standpoint of one’s party or, in international affairs, from one’s country.

recall

Electoral procedure practised in Canada and many American states whereby an elected official, including the chief executive, can be recalled from office by the voters if there are sufficient signatures on a petition.

redistribution

In SMV systems the periodical redrawing of electoral boundaries to ensure each electorate conforms to the prerequisites of the electoral laws, such as having equal numbers of voters for that State or Territory.

referendum

A public vote with possibly legally binding consequences.

rent seeker

Someone who attempts to make an income by manipulating the social or political or economic environment to his advantage, in the form of political lobbying, rather than actually creating goods or services himself.. The “rent” coming to him is usually from government enforced monopoly privileges, or government grants paid for “services” which the free market might not otherwise see as of any value.

representative democracy

In modern times what is commonly know as a democracy, even though the people do not directly vote on actual issues and laws but surrender that right to their duly elected representatives.

republic

Defined by some sources as simply a democracy, but otherwise loosely described as a form of government where, in word or deed, rule is not by the selected few. Not an oligarchy but not necessarily a democracy. The Roman Republic was the original precedent for republicanism. Apartheid South Africa was a republic.

responsible government

When government evolved from an independent authoritative monarch in conjunction with a people’s parliament to a subservient monarch together with a prime minister and parliament, it was said that government (the executive in the form of the prime minister and cabinet) became responsible to parliament. Now taken to be synonymous with parliamentary government.

right wing / left wing

‘on the right’ would be loosely described as a political philosophy which favours pro-market, conservative attitudes with a preference for (some) individual rights over interventionist government, a strong defence force and a non-compromising approach to law and order.

‘on the left’ would be, loosely, opposite to the above together with a so called ‘womb to tomb’ approach to social welfare and an internationalist world view.

Terms originated in the French Estates General in 1789 when the nobility who favoured complacency sat on the King’s right and those who wanted change and amelioration of the peasant’s conditions sat on the left.

Robson Rotation

An electoral method practised in places such as Tasmania where multiple printings of ballot papers are made so as to rotate the first spot equally amongst all the candidates. An attempt to eliminate the Donkey Vote.

roll

The list of voters eligible to vote at an election.

rule of law

The doctrine of English common law espousing in essence two ideals of liberalism from the Enlightenment: equity and due process:

• All people are subject equally to the privileges and penalties of the law.
• The people are ruled by laws and not by men. (both the judiciary and the executive are to act only according to law rather than to their own beliefs of what is justice)
• The law shall be prospective, visible, clear, and relatively stable.
• Due process must be afforded to all those before the law (e.g. Habeas Corpus).

safe seat

Where the electorate is filled with supporters of predominately one party and thus is considered safe by that party at election time.   a.k.a. blue ribbon seat

scrutiny

The checking and counting of ballot papers to ascertain the result of an election. Political parties are allowed representatives on such occasions.

separation of powers

A traditional concept of liberalism where, for the sake of limiting abuse of power, the three branches of government: the executive, the legislature and the judiciary remain independent. In modern times the best examples are some American states where all branches have tangible power and, because of separate elections, no branch is appointed by nor can be removed by, another branch.

shadow cabinet

The ‘would be’ cabinet of the opposition party in Parliament.

single member voting (SMV)

As opposed to proportional representation, the system where only one candidate represents all the citizens of an electorate/ geographical area. Also known as  Majoritarian voting when preferences are allowed on the ballot paper.

The Social Contract

An 18th century philosophical concept used to attempt to explain the understanding by which  people originally left their solitary, wilderness existence  and came together under the auspices of government. Theorist Thomas Hobbes first claimed that the contract entailed each individual surrendering all his rights, save that of life, in exchange for the protection of the Crown. A half century later philosopher John Locke modified that to state that not only life, but certain other fundamental rights, albeit not necessarily democratic,  were retained by the people and that they were legitimate in overthrowing any state that violated those rights.

socialism

A method of government in which the means of planning and producing goods and services are controlled by a central government which also seeks to collect the wealth of the nation and distribute it evenly amongst its citizens.

speaker

The adjudicator in lower house debates and divisions (votes). An elected MP who does not vote unless there would otherwise be a tie. Always a government MP unless the government has only a bare majority in which case independents are usually chosen. Upper house equivalent is President.

sunset clause

A provision or clause inserted in legislation to declare its expiry date. Most legislation does not contain such clauses as the intention is that laws are permanent, at least until subsequent conflicting acts.

swing

How electoral results change between elections. Eg: “There has been a 15% swing towards Labour in this seat since the 2001 election”

swinging voter

Voters who are not loyal to any particular party but swing from one party to another according to the circumstances of the time.

Ta′mmany Hall

19th century headquarters of the American Democratic Party which became notorious for political corruption.

theocracy

Government controlled by the church/priesthood or a proclaimed living god. Examples could be ancient Egypt and modern day Iran.

totalitarian

A government that wishes to subordinate the individual to the state by controlling not only all political and economic matters, but also by seeking to control the attitudes, values, and beliefs of its population.

transfer value

In preferential voting, proportional representation elections a winning candidate’s surplus votes are transferred to the next available candidate. This is achieved by transferring all of the ballot papers, but at a fraction of their value.

turnout

The percentage of enrolled citizens who actually vote.

two-party-preferred

The final tally for the two more popular candidates/parties of all votes (whether 1st 2nd or 3rd choice etc) in single member Preferential Voting systems.

tyranny of the majority

A concept first coined in the nineteenth century by French writer Alexis de Tocqueville and also embraced by John Stuart Mill, who claimed that even democracies had limitations in that minority rights could be forfeited in the pursuit of popular causes. Possible solutions to such tyranny could be a constitutionally entrenched bill of rights, proportional representation, or a democracy divided up into a federation where peoples of different beliefs and values could gravitate to separate geographical areas that maintained their own distinct laws and practices.

vote of no confidence

In parliamentary systems, where the executive can only exist at the behest of the majority of the legislature, a vote of no confidence (generally by the lower house) would be a death knell for the current administration, and would, unless another coalition of parties could form a majority, precipitate an election.  

upper house

Often known as the Senate, and in federations as the 'States' House'. Traditionally the smaller but more elitist  “house of review” populated by members of the titled, landed, financial or educational aristocracy. With some exceptions (Canada & the UK) candidates ability to join the upper house is now the same as for the lower house and  members’ prestige is only higher because, as there are fewer in total, each member has more of a voting influence than in the lower house. Often elected by proportional representation. In both Australia and the United States each state sends the same number of senators (twelve and two respectively) to the federal house irrespective of that state’s population.

Westminster

British houses of parliament and name for a system where, amongst other attributes, the executive is divided between an ‘above-politics’ head of state and a chief executive appointed by the legislature, a career rather than politically appointed senior public service, and bicameral parliament.

winner-take-all

Either a non-proportional representation or a non-preferential electoral system as is common in both the UK and the USA.

whip

A party whip is a parliamentary party disciplinary officer who ensures that his/her party members do the right thing such as being in attendance for certain crucial votes. A whip is also the notice sent by the aforesaid to members.

writ

In electoral terms a writ is a document commanding an electoral officer to hold an election and contains dates for the close of rolls, the close of nominations, the polling day and the return of the writ. The issue of a writ triggers the electoral process.