Australian Political Culture

By understanding a countries political culture you begin to slowly understand how a country is run and why it is run in that manner. The article I got mainly discussed how Clientelism is a major part of Australian politics.

Australian political culture is in many ways similar to the United States, they are patriotic, and have trust in the government and their officials. But in some cases Australians don’t feel like they can make a huge impact on politics with a voter turnout of only about 76%. Fortunately these current feelings about government have changed throughout time. In the beginning of Australian history Australia was a colony of England. As time progressed they kept those very tight knit bonds with England and the British government. But as national identity increased Australia transitioned away from the British monarch and made the Prime minister the head of state. This occurred so that their interests would be better represented and dealt with.

One of the most interesting aspects of the article was how in Australia a big part of their political culture is Clientelism, especially with immigrant and minority populations. Clientelism itself is a system where a patron creates a friendship or relationship with a client. Here the patron uses their influence and protection in exchange for support or assistance. In this system the patron would be a politician and the client would be the constituent. In most cases this system is thought of as very abusive to the constituent as they are often taken advantage of by the patron. It is common is Japanese politics and often times doesn’t properly represent their constituents. But for Australia they have molded this system to one that creates more benefits then downfalls. Today in Australia, Clientelism is used as a new form of representation where patrons can better get in touch with minorities and immigrants and in exchange get the support they need to hold office.

In many countries like Australia, minorities and immigrants tend to live in secluded neighborhoods. This often occurs because these groups face disadvantages in the life and living close to those are similar to them helps them cope and find support. These close knit communities create very complex networks that are often involved in community building and organizations. Despite their community involvement often times they are not involved politically. Many politicians see this trend of non-participation and refuse to ignore them as a political factor. Many politicians realize that their lack of participation harms them because their views aren’t being voiced in the political realm. In order to reach these communities representatives need to make strong community and cultural ties. Often times they attend social functions and community events to not only get to know the people but to start communication. Because politicians have to become close to the community to gain their votes and support they are less likely to abuse the relationship because it took so long to create. Politicians also use intermediaries to help in gain minority and immigrant support. These intermediaries often times come for the community and help bridge cultural and language barriers.

Although Clientelism is often viewed in a negative light, in Australia they seem to be making it work. The article also said that this system works because for many immigrants and minorities this system agrees with their cultural beliefs. The clients themselves in this system are very aware of the system and truly hold their representative responsible. It also gives a voice to groups of people who were formally not involved in politics until this method was utilized. And as long as this system doesn’t turn to its stereotypical ways of corruption, then what’s the harm?