The ABC of Political Audiences: Are Public and Commercial Viewers Distinctive?

One of the most profound influences on social and political change over the course of the last half century has been the development of the electronic mass media, especially television. The advent of television has changed the way that politics, and in particular election campaigns, are played out. Scholars have researched the political role of television in many respects and looked at the influence of television as a whole on politics. However, there has been little if any investigation of distinctions that might occur between public and commercial television audiences, despite the various political implications such distinctions may have. In Australia, where the national public broadcaster is distinguished from privately owned television channels by not running paid advertising and by having a greater emphasis on serious political journalism, and there is another publicly funded channel with a broader world and multicultural focus, the prospect that the audiences of these channels might differ from those of the commercial stations is particularly intriguing. This paper uses data from the 2001 Australian Election Study to explore differences between viewers who rely on different television channels for election news. The paper investigates not only whether the different audiences are distinctive in socio-demographic terms but also whether they vary in terms of political orientations and leanings

The influence of leadership on voting behaviour in New Zealand : a case study

To what extent do party leaders influence voting behaviour in New Zealand General Elections? The concept of·leadership orientation - derived from the American social-psychological model of voting behaviour - is examined in this thesis in order to determine the applicability of the concept in the study of New Zealand voting behaviour, and also the nature and extent of its influence. Using data coded from voting surveys conducted in the Lyttelton electorate prior to the New Zealand General Elections of 1975 and 1978, the influence of leadership on voting behaviour is analysed in several different contexts, specifically the 1975 election, the 1978 election, and a comparison between the two. Finally the data are analysed so as to reveal general characteristics about the form that leadership influence takes. Findings to emerge from the data analysis include that, in 1975, contrary to popular belief, leadership was of only very minor importance as a direct influence on voting. By contrast, in 1978 leadership became a factor of crucial importance in determining the electoral outcome, with its main characteristic being the antagonistic reaction of voters to the Prime Minister, Mr Muldoon, causing them to vote against the National Party.In addition, it is discovered that the major party leaders have well-formed, distinctive images among voters, and that leader ship orientation becomes a more important influence on voting in the absence of party affiliations. An important link between leadership and issues is also discovered. In conclusion it is argued that the concepts of leadership orientation and leadership voting are, indeed, relevant in the study of New Zealand voting behaviour. While the number of voters influenced by leadership is relatively small, it can be of vital importance in determining electoral outcomes

Leadership Change, Policy Issues and Voter Defection in the 2010 Australian Election

Leadership change formed the backdrop to the 2010 Australian federal election, with the replacement of Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister by Julia Gillard, the country's first female Prime Minister. This article uses the 2010 Australian Election Study to examine patterns of voter defection between the 2007 and 2010 elections. The results show that the predominant influence on defection was how voters rated the leaders. Julia Gillard was popular among female voters and her overall impact on the vote was slightly greater than that of Tony Abbott. Defectors from Labor to the Greens disapproved of Kevin Rudd's dismissal from office. Policy issues were second in importance after leadership, particularly for those moving from the Coalition to Labor, who were concerned about health and unemployment. Overall, the results point to the enduring importance of leaders as the predominant influence on how voters cast their ballot

A comparative study of electoral behaviour in Australia and New Zealand

Studies which make explicit and substantial cross-national comparisons of electoral behaviour are rare. This thesis involves an intensive and extensive empirical analysis of electoral behaviour in Australia and New Zealand set in a wider cross-national framework. Relying principally but not wholly upon sample survey data, the study investigates trends in mass political attitudes and behaviour since the 1960s against a background of the electoral histories of Australia and New Zealand since the Second World War and also giving consideration to the initial development of their modern political party systems. The primary focus, however, is on the period at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s. The thesis considers a wide range of macro-level and micro-level influences on political choice, including such factors as electoral laws, federalism and regionalism, social structure, and parental partisanship as well as the more immediate determinants of voting behaviour such as party identification, attitudes to party leaders and local candidates. The comparison of two such similar nations allows the investigations to be pursued in greater depth in many instances than would be the case were the comparison of political behaviour in more disparate nations. Major conclusions are that, of the system-level constraints which cause cross-national variations in political behaviour, it is the political party elites and the political culture of a nation that have the most consistent and prominent influences. Social structure, the rules of the political system and geographical considerations are less influential. The system-level factors, by and large, alter the degree of influence of some micro variables on mass political behaviour but not the essential nature of political responses to various stimuli. Political behaviour, it is argued, displays a high degree of consistency in different national contexts

Fostering appropriate behaviour in rehabilitant orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)

Rehabilitation centres in Indonesia and Malaysia accommodate displaced orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus and P. abelii) and aim to facilitate their release into the wild by developing in them the skills that are necessary for survival. Regular forest excursions are provided but their efficacy in improving learning of appropriate behaviours is unknown. We observed forty rehabilitating orangutans from the Orangutan Care and Quarantine Centre during three forest excursions each to determine whether their behaviour fostered the development of survival skills. In total 38% of their time was spent in locomotion, particularly quadrupedal arboreal travel (13%), walking (8%), climbing (7%) and vine-swinging (4%). 26.5% of their time was spent 5 m or more from the ground, at heights up to 25 m. Arboreal activities were more 2 common early in the excursions and interaction with c are-givers more common later (hour 1: 0.3% of time; hour 5: 0.9% of time). Animals of lower body weight were significantly more likely to engage in arboreal movement, locomotion in general, eating of bark and leaves, and social play, and less likely to eat insects. Those that had been at the Centre the longest were less likely to perform arboreal activities and significantly more likely to be found standing and at ground level, than those that were there for a shorter time. During this study, many forest food items were consumed, particularly leaves and fruit, but also invertebrates and bark. Little time was spent in sexual behaviour, tool use, nest building or socially-mediated learning, but social play occupied almost 6% of their time. We conclude that regular excursions into the forest are likely to assist in the development of locomotion and feeding skills for survival in rehabilitating orangutans, but special attention is needed to encourage nest building, social activities and arboreal activity. Animals least likely to benefit are heavy animals and those that have been captive for a long time

Citizen Confidence in Social and Political Institutions in a Changing World

The focus in some literatures towards the end of the 20th century on the crisis of governability and on challenges to governance in the western world has given way in the early part of the 21st century to a focus on broader social and political uncertainty in the face of a world now dominated by ongoing threats of major terrorist activity. These developments, together with evidence of declining trust and social capital, have placed considerable pressure on a range of major social and political institutions. This paper uses survey research data to investigate public confidence in a number of prominent organisations and institutions in Australia and how this confidence is changing. The paper considers not only the level of public confidence, but also the dimensionality of such attitudes and the socio-political factors that shape them. The paper concludes with a consideration of the theoretical and practical implications of the findings

Leadership and Voting: The Connection at the State Level

While it is now well established that Australian party leaders at the national level influence political choice in federal elections, little systematic study of the equivalent role that state premiers and opposition leaders might play has been undertaken. In the 2001 Australian Election Study (n=2010), questions were asked of a national probability sample of voters about respondent feelings towards their state premier and state opposition leader, in addition to equivalent questions about John Howard, Kim Beazley and other major political figures in federal politics. The data generated by this survey thus provide an opportunity to investigate the impact that contemporary state political leaders have on electoral choice. The analysis produces mixed results, but the findings show that state leaders generally do have an impact on voting behaviour in state elections, although in some cases this influence is eliminated when account is taken of voter attitudes towards the federal leaders. The analysis also affords an opportunity to test the extent of crossover between state and federal politics, in terms of how much state leaders influence federal voting and vice versa. While the results are somewhat uneven, they do indicate that some state leaders influence federal voting and that the federal leaders do influence voting in some states

Are we keeping the bastards honest? Perceptions of corruption, integrity and influence on politics

The words of the late Don Chipp, the founder of the Australian Democrats, have a perennial relevance to politics. When Chipp talked about ‘keeping the bastards honest’, it related to a minor political party playing a role of keeping the major political parties true to their word (Warhurst 1997). Yet it is also a democratic role that citizens play on an ongoing basis, particularly through the mechanism of elections. At the ballot box, governments that are widely perceived to have acted with a lack of integrity are roundly punished. This chapter explores public opinion on issues of integrity, corruption, influence and trust in politics and politicians in Australia. The evidence paints a differentiated picture of a public which sees little sign of overtly corrupt political practices but on the other hand does not feel terribly influential and is not always confident of fair treatment from public officials..

How the political audiences of Australian public and commercial television channels differ

The advent of television has changed the way in which politics, and election campaigns in particular, are played out. Scholars have researched the political role of television in many respects and looked at the influence of television as a whole on politics. However, there has been little if any investigation of distinctions that might occur between public and commercial television audiences, despite the various political implications such distinctions may have. In Australia, where the national public broadcaster is distinguished from privately owned television channels by not running paid advertising and by having a greater emphasis on serious political journalism, and there is another publicly funded channel with a broader world and multicultural focus, the prospect that the audiences of these channels might differ from those of the commercial stations is intriguing. This paper uses data from the 2001 Australian Election Study to explore socio-demographic and political differences between viewers who rely on different television channels for election news. One of the key findings is that viewers who look to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for election news are quite distinctive from other viewers with respect to both political orientation and social background

Political Personalities and Voting in the 1999 Australian Constitutional Referendum

This study presents evidence on two questions relating to research into the influence of leadership on mass political behaviour: the impact of leaders on voting in referendums and the influence of non-institutionalised political personalities. Research in Australia demonstrating that voter evaluations of leading politicians affect party choice in national elections has emphasised that in general it is only the current or recent leaders of the major parties who have an impact. Research through the 1990s has also shown that attitudes towards the major party leaders have consistently influenced voter stances on the question of whether Australia should become a republic. In the November 1999 republican referendum, the leaders of the two opposing campaigns – Malcolm Turnbull and Kerry Jones – were not mainstream politicians or party political figures at all. This paper uses data from the 1999 Australian Constitutional Referendum Study to investigate the extent to which responses to the leading personalities shaped voting decisions in the referendum and in particular to determine whether voters focused more on the republican and monarchist campaign leaders or on the leaders of the major political parties