Electoral bias in Australia 1980–1993

The impact of the 1983 electoral amendments

Bibliographic Data

ID6234563
AuthorsDavid Charnock (Curtin University, corresponding author)
Year1994
Volume29
Issue3
Pages484-500
Publication date1994-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1036-1146 • E-ISSN: 1363-030X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00323269408402308
OpenAlexW2063554490
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited4

This paper examines the amount and sources of electoral bias at federal elections in Australia from 1980 to 1993. The main conclusion reached is that the changes to electoral legislation introduced between the 1983 and 1984 elections did not, as has previously been widely accepted, merely act to neutralise the then‐existing bias towards the Liberal and National coalition parties but actually resulted in a bias towards the Australian Labor Party. Most of the bias arose from the differential geographic concentration of voters, to which a contributing influence was a ‘size effect’ caused by increasing the number of members of parliament However, the introduction of a boundary redistribution criterion which requires equality in electorate enrolments over time (rather than immediately) has also introduced an inbuilt bias arising from differential enrolment levels into the post‐1983 electoral system. This bias has favoured the ALP at every one of the four elections held under the new system

Differential (mechanical device · Economics · Electoral system · Legislation · Parliament · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Redistribution (election · Australian History and Society · Commonwealth, Australian Politics and Federalism · Law · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration

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