Major party, minor party, micro party: Does it matter what we call parties?

In the three federal elections since the Australian Labor Party (ALP) were elected to government in 2007, first preferences for non-major parties and Independents in Australia have increased significantly. While in 2007 these… Continue reading →

Disposable Leaders Media and Leadership Coups from Menzies to Abbott

Politics in 1950s Adelaide was a gentlemanly affair. The Premier, Thomas Playford, and Labor’s Mick O’Halloran faced each other in four election campaigns between 1950 and 1959. More surprisingly, they dined together each… Continue reading →

Election Nerds: How the West was won, or how Labor won in the WA State election

In which the Nerds dissect the 2017 Western Australian state election, looking at the context of the outgoing Liberal government, the campaign and key issues, players and results, and the incoming ALP government,… Continue reading →

A Tale of Two Sister (Parties)

In the field of centre-left and social democratic politics, arguably the most high-profile ideational development in recent years was the emergence of the so-called ‘third way’ in the late 1990s. For a short… Continue reading →