Australian Politics and Active Citizenship

Liberal democracy can be considered a form of the government's systems where the rights of individuals and the freedoms are highly recognisable. Liberal democracy also means that the rule of law restricts political power—nations such as Australia, the United States, Canada, and Britain. Follow the system of Liberal Democracy. Liberal democracy attempts to defend civil rights and liberties against the enrichment of authoritative sources in society (Governments and institutions).

The public sphere was introduced in the 1700s. It is understood to be a domain of social life for public opinion. Before the public sphere, the public conversation was understood to be an expression of power. It was formed to allow all individuals to be included in every conversation in which people came together. The commencement of the public sphere meant Individuals did not have to act on behalf of organisations or private interests to be engaged in conversation. Rather than this, they were able to communicate their opinions for the sole purpose of uniting and freely expressing opinions.

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Communal and group rights are applied to as a whole group rather than the individuals within the group. The names themselves describe the nature of the right holder. However, the fact that rights are limited to people in that group, instead the outside members of society or large groups of humanity is not explicitly described. Much of the debate surrounding these rights is focused on whether these groups are entitled to hold certain rights. If they are entitled to these rights, the conditions they must meet are also discussed.

Sovereignty can be understood to be the ultimate overseer, the authority or supreme power in the process of maintaining order and decision making. Sovereignty can also be related to royal rank or high positions in government as possessed or claimed by states or communities. Sovereignty is the given right of a government to have unlimited zonal power, especially over the laws of the land, water, or air where international laws state.

Terra Nullius originates from Latin roots and means nobodies land. It is a term used to declare land unoccupied or uninhabited by international law. The term was sometimes used to claim territory which might be developed by a state's occupation. The term is used to reject that land was ever part of a sovereign state.

Within the Australian Parliament, different parties are formed by members who are elected before federal or state Parliament as well as in the upper or lower house. These people are elected to represent parties as electorates. Usually, individuals are made to believe they are voting for an individual when that individual is representing a pollical party. These representatives have party leaders, which implement direction and discipline. Although the representatives are portrayed as individuals we are voting for; some individuals are known as the independents who are not apart of a political party. These individuals who are elected as independents usually claim that they have the extra ability to represent the ideas of local communities rather than the people more accurately who represent a party. They are free from the head of a party and the strict disciplines. This claim is, to some extent, probably factual; however, they still face many barriers in proving this statement. They most likely lack the resources, funding, and media expertise to promote their campaigns and political debates that those which are supported by parties have. They are usually the more isolated voices which have little influence on politics and the more extensive policy and legislation procedures. Due to this, the fact that independents are better able to represent people in their electorates is not valid.

The ANZUS Alliance is a security treaty signed on the 1st of September in 1951. This alliance has been in place for over 60 years between Australia, New Zealand, and the united states of America. This alliance was made to ensure and maintain the safety and peace in the pacific region. The treaty states that the parties within the agreement desire to strengthen the peace. They declared this publicly and formalised unity. This unity requires signatories to discuss any expected threats or dangers to the involved nations. Australia has relied for so long on American power to protect the country however both the government and electorate desire the security benefits which they still receive from the ANZUS treaty but also want the economic benefits of the fruitful relationship with china. However, the ANZUS treaty allows Australia to continue receiving gains in natural autonomy, security, maturity and international policy flexibility and access to military technologies. The ANZUS Alliance is in Australians contemporary national interest. It is recommended that it should be viewed as a statement of shared values which are capable of being used in the face of evolving contemporary threats rather than just a specific set of requirements.

In the modern world, social media is a predominant aspect for many individual's and can spark various judgments related to politics, either enhancing or negatively impacting their decisions. Social media can also be used to inform candidates on specific approaches that can be undertaken to influence potential voters. Young adults use social media to engage with politics which increases their participation in elections enabling them to enhance their political decisions and assisting the government in improving their arguments in political debates. Social media has enabled government officials to be accessible to their voters through educating their audience with valuable content and engaging with them to provide information on enhancing their political system. Social media assists the government with producing commercials and publish advertisements for free, enabling them to broadcast their messages to the broader audience at no cost. Social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, have become instrumental in organising political campaigns and allow the audience to share information based on their judgements related to politics. These platforms are also used to start campaigns that can be used to begin fundraising to raise large amounts of money in a short period. Social media platforms can overthrow political leaders by blocking their statements. By doing these individuals can further alter their opinions on political debates, supporting this is platform twitter. In recent social media posts made by Donald Trump, twitter placed a public interest notice for breaching twitter guidelines and for causing harm against the audience.

The Parliament of Australia is composed of a lower house being The House of Representatives and the upper house being the Senate. Members of the house of representatives make up the houses primary function. It is the house that takes up most of the time considering and discussing either new laws or amendments on existing laws. The house of the Senate represents states or territories. It consists of 76 senators twelve from each of the six states and two from the mainland territories. Both houses use different methods of electoral systems and follow different terms. Senators are elected based off a system of proportional representation. Proportional representation is an electoral system in which parties can accurately gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them. To vote for a member in the house of representative's individuals are required to number the candidates from their first choice through to their last choice. This is known as preferential voting. Both forms of voting are effective; however, both have their limitations. Donkey votes can become occurrent as people may not understand, or just not care, or they might just not have anyone they would like to vote. This creates an unfair result. Proportional voting has the downfall of allowing voters to vote by the party, not the selected individual representatives. In this case, preferential voting is better; it allows voters to have their other choices considered and counted.

Women are passionate and can bring upon a change in their country; however, they are held back due to specific barriers as they are not provided with resources or mentors that are willing to enhance their knowledge. Governments that value diversity has a higher chance of having effective resolutions cause of their diverse leadership team. More than 50% of the world's population are women which enable their views to be reflected upon within the Parliament as they can have particular beneficial views because of their personal experiences. Specific public health issues can also be worked upon through women in Parliament because of their perspectives being different compared to men. Women are underestimated and underrepresented; however, the proportion of women in Parliament is gradually increasing as more than 20 per cent of politicians are women. The most critical barrier causing fewer women politicians is based upon institutional mindset as individuals assume women cannot lead the country towards success based on their stereotypical roles in society and their lifestyle choices as it is depicted that women cannot balance personal life and work life. Specific barriers can be overcome through mentors and sponsors as they can assist with addressing women leadership challenges and ensure they have the helpful resources to gain knowledge. They can also be overcome by bringing upon a change in the political system, challenging assumptions made by the audience and by enhancing the procedures of individual networks related to politics.

According to the principles of liberal democracy, elected governments should balance the will of the majority with the rights of individuals and minorities. In June 2020, during the COVID 19 pandemic, protestors marched in Australian cities under the banner of 'Black Live Matter' despite government attempts to discourage and even prevent those protests. Outline and evaluate the arguments for and against staging these protests. In your answer, refer to concepts and ideas we have discussed in Australian Politics and Active Citizenship.

Individuals have rights, and minorities share these rights. The principles of liberal democracy insist the elected governments balance the will of the majority with these rights of individuals. Covid-19 pandemic has affected both individuals and majorities has tested the principles of liberal democracy and their effectiveness in situations. Governments have had to apply these principles to balance the safety of individuals while still satisfying the needs of society. Throughout this pandemic, protests were planned and carried out despite the discouragement or complete ban of protests; however, the governments need to keep in mind the rights of people.

Furthermore, governments are made up of various systems. Liberal democracy is understood to be one of these political systems. Liberal democracy is a democratic system where the individual rights and freedoms are formally recognised and protected, and the practice of political power which is limited by the rule of law. Liberal democracies can defend and nourish civil liberties against the enrichment of higher powers in society. His form of democracies is also able to give a consensual ideology of different societies based on the religious, political-economic and moral freedom of citizens. Liberal Democracy follows some main principles to apply to the way governments handle situations. These principles include beliefs in the individual, which is based on the idea that individuals are both moral and rational. It supports the belief in reason and progress based on the idea that growth and development are the natural progressions of humanity with the compromise being the art of politics. Liberal democracy is also based on the ideas that society is seen as a mutual association with benefits. This is based on the need for cooperation rather than conflict and chaos. The last principle of liberal democracy is that there is power in concentrated forms; this can be expressed by governments, individuals and groups. When dealing with the situations of 'Black lives matter' marches and the COVID 19 governments need to be aware and wary of following these principles as well as considering the human rights of individuals which include, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs.

Keeping in mind, the Black Lives Matter protests, and advocacy has been a much spoken about topic in the current-day news. It is an organised movement which has received international social and political coverage. The movement is aimed at ridding alleged incidents of police brutality. It is also aimed to encourage peaceful civil disobedience to the higher powers in society. Australia's governments sought out to prevent or ban these peaceful protests In hope to reduce the rate of the current covid19 disease. The gathering of many people nearby would mean an increase in the risk of infection rates. Although it was highly advised to refrain from attending these planned protests, legislation was not passed to confirm it would be unlawful to attend. Although no legislation was passed, the tone of Scott Morrison was sharpened, and he mentioned that if protesters are n the streets in the coming days they will be charge however many did assemble and it was confusing. These individuals were not breaching any laws and expressed heir many reasons for and against these staged protests. The majority of individuals believed by protesting in the spike of the black lies matter campaign they will be able to shed some much-needed light on our own country which is believed to be far from innocent when associated with police brutality against indigenous Australians.

Many fundamental concepts of Australian politics and active citizenship are evident within the situation of COVID-19 and the black lives matter protests. Factors of the public sphere, social movements and individual rights are all shown by current societies and contemporary governments. The public sphere opens political agendas, informs the public, creates robust and critical debate. The public sphere is one of the many concepts which are seen through the COVID 19 pandemic and black lives matter marches. The general public main conversation has been revolving this topic and individuals are educating themselves more to become informed. Social movements represent activism as a counterbalance to oppressing control of the political process. The rights of individuals are also shown to be tested within current day society. Groups and societies are pushing boundaries to the absolute limit in order to exercise their rights as much as possible.

According to the principles of liberal democracy, elected governments should balance the will of the majority with the rights of individuals and minorities. The current situation of the Cocid-19 pandemic and the black lives matter marches has tested all aspects of the liberal democratic system. Individuals have rights, and minorities share these rights, governments are also made up of various systems, liberal democracies known to be one of these political systems. Governments were and are needed to take into these considerations I order to come up with balanced, fair and just rules, legislations, and the reasons either for or against also.