In the lead up to the daylight saving referendum in WA, arguments were flying between the 'yes' and 'no' camps. What about the farmers having to milk cows in the heat of the day? What about families who wanted the extra hours of daylight to play at the beach? What about the curtains fading? For a while, I was confused about why everyone was making such a fuss. I joined the ranks of the few people who just didn't care, and grumbled along with them about the expense and hassle of having a referendum for such a trivial issue.
Why were people getting so fired about something so seemingly trivial? Maybe it's because it was one of the few times that we had a real say in political decision-making. Most of the time our involvement in the political process is limited to voting every few years. Even then, there's no guarantee that there will be a party whose positions you fully agree with, or that politicians will keep their campaign promises.
We seem to have very low expectations for our democracy. Research by Andrew Leigh, a researcher at the Australian National University, shows that our trust in the federal government and in politicians is falling. For example, in 2000, only about 15 per cent of survey respondents rated their trust in our politicians as 'high' or 'very high'. Despite this, we seem to be largely happy to leave decisions in the hands of politicians.
This might be because there don't seem to be any alternatives. After all, everyone from our teachers to the evening news presenters tells us about the benefits of representative democracy, which relies on citizens electing other people to make political choices on their behalf. The only other options appear to be people rioting in the streets or dictatorships.
There are other forms of democracy though. One of these is direct democracy, in which people make decisions for themselves rather than voting for politicians. Australia has some elements of direct democracy. The most important of these is the federal referendum, like the one held in 1999 to decide if we should become a republic. However, we're still a long way behind some countries, like Switzerland, which is a semi-direct democracy: it has a parliament, but also has many processes for citizen involvement in decision-making.
Like Australia, Switzerland has federal referendums, but unlike in Australia these can be initiated by citizens, not just by politicians. Referendums are not only compulsory for changing the Swiss constitution, but are also held whenever the government wants to join an international treaty or go to war. Referendums are also held at local and state levels of government, and they are binding. Politicians can't ignore the results of these referendums, as they can with state elections in Australia.
In Australia, more and more political power is becoming concentrated in the hands of the federal government. Switzerland, on the other hand, is composed of twenty six states, or cantons, and the powers of these cantons are protected by the constitution. Switzerland's 2,900 communes, which are like our electorates, also have protected powers. In most communes, citizens gather at least once a year to vote directly on important issues, including how to spend taxes. Citizens make so many of the decisions in Switzerland that federal politicians only work part-time, meeting for three weeks at a time, four times a year.
It would be impractical to introduce Switzerland's system into Australia exactly as it is. We don't have the same history or culture, and we have a larger population. However, we could learn from the Swiss experience, and start introducing more elements of direct democracy into our political system. This might mean having more referendums at the state level, or giving more power to local councils. There are also other ways of letting citizens participate in decision-making, including through online forums.
Expanding direct democracy would mean that Australians would need to rethink their role in the democratic process. Many of us already think that voting is a responsibility, as well as a right: a 2005 Morgan poll cited by Tim Evans of the Australian Electoral Commission showed that over 70 per cent of Australians supported compulsory voting at the federal level. We just need to expand that viewpoint to include other areas of political decision-making.
We can't change the system overnight, but there are some steps we can take today to move in the right direction. One is to support political parties that advocate for increased involvement of citizens in the political process. Another is to become more informed and active about political issues, and to encourage others to do so as well. Democracy means 'rule by the people', and if we're really going to be in control we have to be willing to do more than vote now and then. There are quite a few issues more important to me (and, I'm guessing, to you) than daylight saving. What would Australia be like if you really got to have a say?
How do I know this?
'Daylight saving blog begins',
ABC Perth, 5 May 2009,
www.blogs.abc.net.au/wa/2009/05/daylight-saving.html, viewed 27 May 2009.
'Direct democracy: the people decide',
Switzerland.com,
www.switzerland.com/en.cfm/home/government/offer-Switzerland-Government-200065.html viewed 27 May 2009.
Evans T, 'Election Systems and Policy',
Australian Electoral Commission, 16 January 2006,
www.aec.gov.au/pdf/voting/compulsory_voting.pdf viewed 15 June 2009.
Green A, 'WA daylight saving referendum',
ABC Elections, 2 February 2009,
www.blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2009/02/wa-daylight-sav.html viewed 27 May 2009.
Greenwood E, 'Switzerland: Swiss direct democracy',
ACE, The Electoral Knowledge Network,
www.aceproject.org/regions-en/countries-and-territories/CH/case-studies/esy_ch02/view viewed 27 May 2009.
Leigh A, 'Explaining distrust: popular attitudes towards politicians in Australia and the United States', in D Burchell and A Leigh,
The Prince’s New Clothes: Why do Australians Dislike their Politicians, 2002,
www.econrsss.anu.edu.au/~aleigh/pdf/
PrincesNewClothesCh2.pdf , viewed 27 May 2009.
'Participatory democracy',
The Greens (WA,
www.wa.greens.org.au/democracy viewed 15 June 2009.
'Part-time politicians',
Swissworld,
www.swissworld.org/en/politics/
government_and_parliament/part_time_politicians viewed 15 June 2009.
'Politics',
Swissworld,
www.swissworld.org/en/politics viewed 15 June 2009.
'Switzerland's direct democracy',
Direct Democracy,
www.direct-democracy.geschichte-schweiz.ch/ viewed 27 May 2009.
