Political Involvement - Structure of Government

1. Political Involvement - Structure of Government Year 9 Commerce

2. Syllabus • Structure of government • federal, State and local • levels of government responsibility • Political action • issues that concern the community • how to take action on political issues • individual action • political parties • lobby groups • Media • Decision-making • organisations which make decisions that impact on the community • government organisations • businesses • welfare organisations • media • processes involved in decision-making • Participation in the democratic process • right to vote • methods of voting • first past the post • preferential • optional preferential • proportional • role and function of political parties • role and strategies of pressure groups • rights and responsibilities of individuals and groups in the democratic process • Current issues • current issues involving the political process

3. Structure of Government

4. LINGO LIST • Cabinet • The group of senior ministers in a government who determine government policy. • Chief minister • The senior minister in an Australian territory. • Constitutional democracy • A democracy based on a constitution, or set of rules. • Council • The government body that administers the affairs of a local area, such as a city or a shire • Democracy • Government by the people, either directly or through elected representatives. Also a form of society that favours equal rights, freedom of speech and a fair trial and tolerates the views of minorities. • Mayor • Head of a local council that has the status of a city or shire.

5. LINGO LIST (CONT.) • Ministry (Ministers) • the executive government; members  from both Houses of Parliament chosen from the party, or coalition of parties, with a majority in the Lower House to administer the country or state, and who are formally appointed by the governor-general or state governor as ministers of state. • Parliament • An assembly of elected representatives that forms the legislature of a state or nation. It may have both an Upper and a Lower House, or only one house. • Policies • Aims or plans for action on a particular issue. • Premier • The leading minister of the state government. The premier’s duties include being a member of the Cabinet or ministry, a member of the executive council and chief minister. • Prime Minister • The leader of the political party that can command majority support in the House of Representatives.

6. Lingo List (again…) • representative democracy • A system of government that allows electors to choose representatives to make political decisions for them.

7. What is Democracy? In Australia, we live in a democracy. This means that our • Society is based around the idea that a government’s power is derived from the will of the peopleand: • Is exercised by them either directly or indirectly. • Takes place through a system of representation−we elect individuals to represent us in parliament. • Usually involves electing a member of a political party whose policies we agree with

8. STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT IN AUSTRALIA • Every Australian is a member of a local community. • There is no single central authority or government that makes all the decisions for all Australians. • In Australia, areas of responsibility or jurisdiction are divided between the bureaucracies of: • Federal (National), • State And, • Local governments

9. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT • The federal government, or Commonwealth Government, decides on matters that affect the whole country. • These responsibilities were given to the government in 1901 under the Australian Constitution

10. STRUCTURE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT • The political leader of the federal government is called the prime minister. • To become prime minister a party leader must be able to rely on a majority of votes, from within their party, in the Lower House of Parliament: the House of Representatives. • The prime minister appoints a ministry, the members of which have responsibility for the various functions of government. • The most senior ministers are members of the Cabinet, which is responsible for all the major decisions made by government. • The two houses of the federal government−the House of Representatives and the Senate−meet in Canberra, the nation’s capital.

11. STATE GOVERNMENTS • The political leader of each state government is called the premier. • In the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory the political leader is called the chief minister.

12. STRUCTURE OF STATE GOVERNMENTS • All state governments, with the exception of Queensland (they don’t have an upper house), have two Houses of Parliament. • The NSW State Government, which consists of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council, meets in Parliament House in Sydney’s historic Macquarie Street

13. LOCAL GOVERMENT • An individual local government is called a council or shire. • Each council is responsible for a much smaller area than the federal or state governments. • Each local government area is governed by its own elected council. • The elected head of the council is called the mayor. In shires, the elected head is called either the president or the mayor.