this post was submitted on 09 May 2025
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Why does Australia still have 2 major political parties despite preferential voting? (fedia.io)
submitted 2 months ago by atro_city@fedia.io to c/australia@aussie.zone
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Thanks to everybody who responded to my last thread asking how the system works. I went in thinking Australia had Winner Takes All (WTA) or First Past The Post (FPTP) for parliamentary elections of the House of Representatives, but found out it does in fact have preferential voting.

As a European living in a democracy with lower houses / parliaments / houses of representatives that have proportional representation (multiple parties in parliament forcing requiring coalitions) allowing only a single tick per list on the ballot, it's a little strange to see the choice in Australia seemingly come down to two political parties. There are multiple groups here fighting for preferential voting and you guys have it yet look like the UK or the US when considering voting outcomes.

Why doesn't preferential voting not lead to plurality in Australia and more choice? Have there been efforts to change the system in such a way that plurality can be achieved?

Thank you for your insights! This is quite interesting to me.

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[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

I am not an Australian, so I can't speak for specific local cultural issues, but it's important to understand that Instant Runoff elections still have a lot of the same problems as First Past the Post voting. We could deep dive into the sociology and math of it all, but the short version is that politicians seeking power will always seek an unfair advantage. A two party system is easier to game than a multi-faceted, multi-party confluence of issue-driven voters. The specifics are unique to Australia, but the underlying causes are the same.

How badly do you want true democracy? Are you willing to vote for it? Are you willing to donate money and time to it? Are you willing to stand up and protest the people who would keep it from you? Are you willing to run for office? Are you willing to fight for it? To kill for it? To die for it?

Because there will always be someone who wants power and is willing to go the distance to take it.

The most successful democracies are forged in the crucible of tyranny. Rebellion against a dictator unites the people in the common belief that people should be free. But a free society will fall again to fascism as free people become complacent. If the subtle seduction happens slow enough, then the people will not rise up until fascism has already taken hold.

A two party system provides some semblance of "balance" as power is rocked back and forth like a boat on the waves, moving from left to right and back, but never leaving the deck.