Australian Electoral Democracy

Undergraduate | 2026

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area/catalogue icon
Area/Catalogue
POLI 3000
Course ID icon
Course ID
201024
Level of study
Level of study
Undergraduate
Unit value icon
Unit value
6
Course level icon
Course level
3
Study abroad and student exchange icon
Inbound study abroad and exchange
Inbound study abroad and exchange
The fee you pay will depend on the number and type of courses you study.
Yes
University-wide elective icon
University-wide elective course
Yes
Single course enrollment
Single course enrolment
Yes
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Note:
Course data is interim and subject to change

Course overview

To help students understand how Australian democracy works, its strengths and weaknesses. It provides a brief history of Australian electoral experiments and then explores in depth its most important features as well as controversies around them. Topics to be covered include: voting and its democratic purposes; whether voting is a right or a duty (or both); compulsory voting; the problem of electoral disinformation and its regulation; securing electoral representation for indigenous Australians, incarcerated citizens and the unhoused; competence tests for voting eligibility; and the ethics of lowering the voting age in Australia.

Course learning outcomes

  • Understand the history of Australian suffrage rights and electoral innovation
  • Think critically about the role of voting in authentic democracies
  • See how voting affects government responsiveness and performance
  • Appreciate the implication of electoral exclusion
  • Understand how liberal democracies are supposed to operate
  • Understand the theoretical and legal justifications for Australia’s electoral arrangements

Prerequisite(s)

N/A

Corequisite(s)

N/A

Antirequisite(s)

N/A