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We estimate the parameters of a reputational game of political competition using data from five two-party parliamentary systems. We find that latent party preferences (and party reputations) persist with high probability across election periods, with one exception: parties with extreme preferences who find themselves out of power switch to moderation with higher probability than the equivalent estimated likelihood for parties in government (extreme or moderate) or for moderate parties in opposition. We find evidence for the presence of significant country-specific differences. We subject the model to a battery of goodness-of-fit tests and contrast model predictions with survey and vote margin data not used for estimation. Finally, according to the estimated model parameters, Australia is less than half as likely to experience extreme policies and Australian governments can expect to win more consecutive elections in the long run as compared to their counterparts in Greece, Malta, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on candidate preselection in Australian political elections, also known as parliamentary gatekeeping. Topics include how elected politicians shape legislation in Australia, the impact of long-standing dominance by political parties in the Australian government, and calls for primaries for Australian politicians to lessen the impact of party preselections and oligarchical control.

While Australian political parties have maintained official websites for some years, the 2007 Australian Federal election saw the first significant integration of Web 2.0 technologies into a national election campaign. The two major parties - the conservative Liberal Party and the socialist Labor Party - both embraced blogs, flash animation, online video and popular social networking sites in an attempt to win votes, particularly in the 18 to 35 year-old demographic. The Labor Party was far more successful in using Web 2.0 and their online efforts were judged to have played a large role in winning the absolute majority of voters under the age of 35 to its platform on election day in November 2007. Closer analysis of available polling data, though, suggests that the Web 2.0 campaign was largely insignificant in attracting young voters and that the notion that online campaigning will win over young Australian voters is largely misplaced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views on questions of conscience for members of parliament in Australia and the negative aspects of the party system for members' freedom of expression as of October 2015. He discusses the benefits of having a balanced parliament which include providing legislators with opportunities to become activists. Also discussed are collective action of the Australian Labor Party,