Looking through the ‘Window on the House

Assessing the standard of Question Time in the Australian House of Representatives, 1991–2020

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6235036
AutoresNicholas Hebden (UNSW Sydney), Diana Perche (0000-0002-4466-1287, UNSW Sydney, autor de correspondencia)
Año2023
Volumen58
Número4
Páginas343-362
Fecha de publicación2023-10-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAustralian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1036-1146 • E-ISSN: 1363-030X
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10361146.2023.2224229
OpenAlexW4381884379
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas10

Question Time is one of the most visible aspects of parliament and a key mechanism of government accountability. It has been much maligned, both for its ineffectiveness and its poor standard of behaviour, but there is limited evidence upon which we can test this. Considering growing dissatisfaction with Australian democracy, this article presents a longitudinal analysis of Question Time. The 30-year timescale represents a unique contribution to the literature – allowing an assessment of how Question Time has changed, rather than being a point in time assessment. We find that the quality of Question Time is highly variable, but we do not find evidence that Question Time has declined in quality. While this may reinforce the idea that Question Time is a robust institution, we conclude that the variability suggests a fragility, and that vigilance is required to ensure that its effectiveness is not allowed to be undermined

Accountability · Democracy · Economics · Epistemology · Fragility · Institution · Parliament · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Quality (philosophy · Window of opportunity · Commonwealth, Australian Politics and Federalism · Computer Science · Law · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research