Ben is joined by American political scientist Jack Santucci to discuss the history of the single transferable vote electoral system and its implementation in numerous American cities in the early 20th century. Jack's book More Parties or No Parties explores this period and advances a theory to explain why electoral system change happens when it does. We also meander into a comparison of STV and simpler proportional representation systems. Please fill out the Tally Room survey and tell us more ab...
Jul 27, 2023•47 min•Ep. 99
Ben is joined by Kevin Bonham to discuss three upcoming by-elections in Fadden, Rockingham and Warrandyte, and for a brief update on other election news - the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters hearing on expanding the size of parliament, the potential for an early election in Tasmania and upcoming redistributions. Please fill out the Tally Room survey and tell us more about what you'd like to hear. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this...
Jul 13, 2023•24 min•Ep. 100
Ben is joined by Professor Steffen Ganghof from the University of Potsdam to discuss his book Beyond Presidentialism and Parliamentarism . Steffen discusses an alternative model of democracy he calls "semi-parliamentarism" which can gain the benefits of presidentialism in having a part of the legislature independent of the government, without investing executive power in a single person. And the best examples of this model can be found here in Australia. Our conversation has relevance to debates...
Jun 29, 2023•33 min•Ep. 97
Ben is joined by former AEC official Michael Maley, who has just returned from a trip to Timor-Leste to help with the country's recent parliamentary election. Ben and Michael discuss the constitutional structure, electoral system and party system of Timor-Leste. We also discuss the results of the recent elections, the likely shape of the new government, and the continuing dominance of the independence generation in Timorese politics. You can read the full transcript here. This podcast is support...
Jun 15, 2023•42 min•Ep. 98
Ben is joined by Professor Matthew Shugart from UC Davis to discuss how the electoral system influences the party system. We discuss the effective number of parties measure, and the seat product model, which uses the size of the parliamentary assembly and the district magnitude to predict the shape of the party system in each country. The SPM is explained most simply in this journal article . Or you can check out Votes From Seats , which explains it in more detail. This podcast is supported by t...
Jun 01, 2023•44 min•Ep. 96
Ben is joined by journalist Erin Cook to discuss last weekend's national election in Thailand, which saw the progressive Move Forward win the most seats and set up prospects for a coalition government made up of parties that are not supporters of the royal and military elite that has run the country since the 2014 coup. Subscribe to Erin's newsletter on Southeast Asian politics, Dari Mulut Ke Mulut Erin mentioned From Development to Democracy by Dan Slater and Joseph Wong You can read the transc...
May 18, 2023•26 min•Ep. 95
Ben is joined by Stewart Jackson to wrap up the NSW state election, but to also discuss the news about a possible expansion of the federal parliament. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Apr 24, 2023•48 min•Ep. 94
Ben is joined by Eddie Synot to discuss the proposal for a Voice to Parliament - where it came from, the history of constitutional recognition and national representative Indigenous bodies and what it might look like. We discuss the likely democratic structures of a Voice and why it probably won't look much like the Langton-Calma model. We also discuss some of the criticisms of the proposal from opponents. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this pod...
Apr 12, 2023•54 min•Ep. 93
Ben is joined by Peter Brent to discuss the remarkable results of Saturday's Aston by-election. We discuss the context of the by-election, the potential implications and we also briefly touch on the upcoming Voice referendum. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Apr 03, 2023•24 min•Ep. 92
Ben is joined again by William Bowe from the Poll Bludger to discuss this weekend's federal by-election in the seat of Aston. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Mar 28, 2023•17 min•Ep. 91
Ben is joined by William Bowe from the Poll Bludger to discuss the results of the NSW state election. Poll Bludger live results page My thread looking at the history of embedding the NSW electoral system in the state constitution This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support....
Mar 27, 2023•44 min•Ep. 90
With the NSW state election coming up this weekend, Ben is joined by Kevin Bonham to discuss the upper house race and what to watch for on election night. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Mar 20, 2023•33 min•Ep. 89
In today's episode Ben is joined by Peter Chen from the University of Sydney. They discuss the prospects for a hung parliament and the major campaign issues dominating the election. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Mar 13, 2023•43 min•Ep. 88
The podcast is back, and Ben is joined by Rodney Smith from the University of Sydney and Michael McGowan from the Guardian to discuss the upcoming NSW state election. We discussed the election context and then focused on the prospects of minor parties and independents at the election. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Feb 27, 2023•30 min•Ep. 87
For the final episode of 2022, Ben is joined by Narelle Miragliotta and Henry Schlechta to discuss the final results of the Victorian state election. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Dec 19, 2022•22 min•Ep. 86
Ben is joined by William Bowe from the Poll Bludger to discuss the results of the Victorian state election. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Nov 28, 2022•45 min•Ep. 85
Ben is joined by Andrea Carson and Stewart Jackson to wrap up the Victorian election campaign and look forward to election night. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Nov 21, 2022•28 min•Ep. 84
Ben is joined today by Kevin Bonham to talk about the Victorian upper house voting system. We discuss the group voting tickets released on Sunday, the dynamics of how the electoral system plays out, why you should vote below the line and the difference that voting below the line makes, and how the system could be reformed. Who would've won in past elections without group voting tickets. How below-the-line voting changed the results in 2018. What the group voting tickets look like in 2022. Kevin'...
Nov 14, 2022•42 min•Ep. 83
Ben is joined by Benita Kolovos from the Guardian Australia and Geoff Robinson from Deakin University to discuss the upcoming Victorian state election. We set the scene, looking at the major issues which have defined the last four years and this campaign, the position of the leaders and the trends in different parts of the state. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support....
Nov 07, 2022•29 min•Ep. 82
Ben is joined by Michael Kabuni to wrap up this year's Papua New Guinea election. We talk about levels of violence and election disruption, the highest number of seats for a single party for 40 years, and the formation of the new government. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Oct 24, 2022•16 min•Ep. 81
Ben is joined by Tasmanian psephologist Kevin Bonham to discuss the upcoming Tasmanian council elections - the electoral systems, the emergence of local tickets, and they then dive into the specific campaigns for Hobart City Council and Clarence City Council. Check out Kevin's guides to Hobart and Clarence . This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support....
Oct 17, 2022•25 min•Ep. 80
A lot of analysis of the recent federal election used aggregate data and made assumptions about individual voting trends, but now we have some data that can actually answer these questions. Ben is joined in this episode by Shaun Ratcliff from YouGov to discuss the Australian Cooperative Election Survey, which allows analysts to make conclusions about individual voting trends. We discuss trends in terms of income, wealth, gender, age, LGBTQI+ voters and cultural diversity. Check out Shaun's prese...
Aug 15, 2022•28 min•Ep. 79
Ben is joined by Maholopa Laveil from the University of Papua New Guinea to discuss the upcoming Papua New Guinea national election, with voting scheduled for most of July. We discuss PNG constitutional structures, election procedures, how the parties work and political geography. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Jun 27, 2022•39 min•Ep. 78
Ben is joined by William Bowe from the Poll Bludger to wrap up the 2022 federal election. We discuss the undecided Senate races, the close House races, and the paths to victory for the Coalition and chances for future hung parliaments. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Jun 06, 2022•47 min•Ep. 77
Ben is joined by Kevin Bonham to discuss the results of yesterday's federal election. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
May 22, 2022•30 min•Ep. 76
Ben is joined this week by Jill Sheppard and Peter Brent to discuss the state of the campaign, long term voting trends and the seat of Dickson in Queensland. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
May 16, 2022•38 min•Ep. 75
We return again today to the polls, talking to two more pollsters from some of Australia's biggest political polls: Campbell White from YouGov/Newspoll and Mark Davis from Ipsos. We discuss the formation of the Australian Polling Council and what has changed since 2019. YouGov's methodology statements Ipsos methodology statements This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support....
May 09, 2022•31 min•Ep. 74
Ben is joined today by Ben Moffitt from the Australian Catholic University to talk about right-wing minor parties and their role in the federal election, and to profile the seat of Macquarie. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
May 02, 2022•30 min•Ep. 73
Ben is joined by Duncan McDonnell and Marija Taflaga to discuss the closing of nominations. We discuss numbers of women and Aboriginal candidates nominating at the election, and the impact of increasing ballot sizes on the House informal vote. We also discuss the electorate of Lingiari in the Northern Territory. Duncan's paper with Ferran Martinez i Coma on representation of women in Australian elections This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podca...
Apr 25, 2022•30 min•Ep. 72
Ben is joined by Narelle Miragliotta and Stewart Jackson to discuss the rise of the Voices independents movement, and the Victorian seat of Casey. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support.
Apr 21, 2022•39 min•Ep. 71
