Principles of liberal democracy

A liberal democracy is a system of government in which political power comes from the people and is exercised within limits that protect individual freedom. The word democracy refers to rule by the people, usually through elected representatives. The word liberal refers to the tradition of restraining state power so that individuals keep freedoms that a government cannot simply remove. Australian government, at both Commonwealth and Tasmanian level, is built on these ideas.

The TASC course groups them into six principles: legitimate authority, separation of powers, rule of law, human rights, procedural fairness and pluralism. The principles are not separate boxes. Each supports the others, and together they form the yardstick against which you will judge Australian institutions in every later part of the course.

Legitimate authority means that people accept a government’s right to make and enforce laws because that power was gained in a fair and open way. Its elements are free, frequent and fair elections; open and competitive selection of office holders, so that any eligible citizen may stand and compete for votes; and a mandate from the popular vote under universal suffrage, meaning all adult citizens may vote regardless of wealth, sex or race.

Behind these elements sits social contract theory, associated with thinkers such as John Locke: citizens give up some natural freedom and agree to obey laws in return for the protection of their rights, and a government that breaks that bargain loses its claim to obedience.

In Australia, elections are run by independent electoral commissions, the Commonwealth Constitution requires both houses to be ‘directly chosen by the people’, and enrolment and voting are compulsory for eligible adult citizens in federal elections and referendums. House of Representatives terms last at most three years. Tasmania’s House of Assembly is elected by the Hare-Clark proportional system, which lets several candidates from different parties win seats in each electorate.