From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage: How Australia Got Compulsory Voting

Awards:   Long-listed for Australian Book Design Awards, Biography 2020 (Australia) Long-listed for Colin Roderick Award 2020 (Australia) Short-listed for Australian History, Prime Minister's Literary Award 2020 (Australia) Short-listed for University of Southern Queensland History Book Award, Queensland Literary Awards 2019 (Australia)
Author:   Judith Brett
Publisher:   Text Publishing
ISBN:  

9781925603842


Pages:   208
Publication Date:   05 March 2019
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
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From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage: How Australia Got Compulsory Voting


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Awards

  • Long-listed for Australian Book Design Awards, Biography 2020 (Australia)
  • Long-listed for Colin Roderick Award 2020 (Australia)
  • Short-listed for Australian History, Prime Minister's Literary Award 2020 (Australia)
  • Short-listed for University of Southern Queensland History Book Award, Queensland Literary Awards 2019 (Australia)

Overview

Alone among English-speaking democracies, Australia compels its citizens to vote . . . It forces politicians to consider the impact of their policies on all groups of Australians, especially the disadvantaged and marginalised, and so contributes to a more equal and just society. It's compulsory to vote in Australia.We are one of a handful of countries in the world that enforce this rule at election time, and the only English-speaking country that makes its citizens vote.Not only that, we embrace it. We celebrate compulsory voting with barbeques and cake stalls at polling stations, and election parties that spill over into Sunday morning.But how did this come to be? When and why did we begin making Australians vote? What effect has it had on our political parties, our voting systems, our participation in elections? And how else is the way we vote different from other English-speaking democracies?From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage is a brilliant essay-length book by the celebrated historian Judith Brett, the prize-winning biographer of Alfred Deakin. This is a landmark account of the character of Australian democracy.

Full Product Details

Author:   Judith Brett
Publisher:   Text Publishing
Imprint:   The Text Publishing Company
Dimensions:   Width: 15.40cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.300kg
ISBN:  

9781925603842


ISBN 10:   1925603849
Pages:   208
Publication Date:   05 March 2019
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Judith Brett takes a fresh look at our democratic quirks - just in time for the 2019 general election.' * Weekly Times * `[Judith] Brett has produced a paean to the Australian election, but her fascinating story of how we vote also discloses larger truths about what we are like as a people.' * Australian Book Review * `Engaging and informative and well worth a read for anyone interested in where our modern electoral institutions came from.' * Dictionary of Sydney * `Relatively brief but seriously compelling history of how we do democracy from one of Australia's best academic writers on all things political... You might not think politics and democracy are exciting topics that would make a riveting read, but Brett proves that to be a total misconception.' -- Dennis Atkins * Courier Mail * `A fantastic read' * 6PR * `As Brett's splendid book reminds us, the fundamentals of our electoral system should make us all proud.' * Sydney Morning Herald * `Brett's research is meticulous...Want to know how and why Australia is one of only 19 electoral democracies worldwide that demand compulsory voting? This is compulsory reading.' * Adelaide Review * `A book that reminds us how proud we should be on election day: if not of the result, at least of the way it's conducted.' * Sydney Morning Herald * `Excellent...Brett's book shows how democracy sausages are the symbolic culmination of the proud history of the Australian contribution to electoral and voting practice around the world.' * Canberra Times * `Magnificent...Brett has constructed an excellent, fast-moving narrative establishing how Australia became one of the world's pre-eminent democracies...[She] skilfully weaves her way through what would be in the hands of a lesser writer a dull, dry topic...Brett is right to point out that we need more than the Anzac story to understand our success. From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage: How Australia Got Compulsory Voting will be an important part of that conversation.' * Weekend Australian * 'Politics aficionados might find this very readable and informative book hard to put down. The solution is simple: read it in one sitting, as I did.' -- Inside Story 'A tightly written history of Australia's electoral system... this is a fantastic read for an election year!' -- Readings `This book unravels mysteries, and explains the quirks and triumphs of Australia. It answers questions you didn't even know you had. I learned something on every page.' -- Waleed Aly `The Australian way of voting seems - to us - entirely ordinary but, as Judith Brett reveals, it's a singular miracle of innovation of which we can all be fiercely proud. This riveting and deeply researched little book is full of jaw-dropping moments. Like the time that South Australian women accidentally won the right to stand as candidates - an international first. Or the horrifying debates that preceded the Australian parliament's shameful decision to disenfranchise Aborigines in 1902. This is the story of a young democracy that is unique. A thrilling and valuable book.' -- Annabel Crabb 'Australia led the world in broadening the franchise and introducing the secret ballot, but few nations followed us down the path of compulsory voting. This absorbing book explains a century-old institution, how it came to be, and how it survives.' -- Antony Green `Brett's writing is capable of extraordinary clarity, insight and compassion.' -- Monthly `Immensely readable history of our electoral system... Brett has a knack for making institutions fascinating.' -- Readings `Voting is compulsory in Australia and, were it up to me, so would be reading this book.' -- Benjamin T. Jones, Honest History `A great treasure that sizzles like the sausage in the title. I'll be surprised if, by the time you've finished it, you don't, like me, feel a little bit prouder of the Australian democratic system.' -- Andrew Leigh MP, Shadow Assistant Treasurer


`Brett's writing is capable of extraordinary clarity, insight and compassion.' * Monthly *


'Australia led the world in broadening the franchise and introducing the secret ballot, but few nations followed us down the path of compulsory voting. This absorbing book explains a century-old institution, how it came to be, and how it survives.' * Antony Green * `Brett's writing is capable of extraordinary clarity, insight and compassion.' * Monthly *


Author Information

Judith Brett is the author of Robert Menzies' Forgotten People and emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University. The Enigmatic Mr Deakin won the 2018 National Biography Award, and was shortlisted in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, NSW Premier's History Awards and Queensland Literary Awards.

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