Ben is joined by Erin Cook from Dari Mulut ke Mulut to discuss next week's national election in Indonesia. We discuss the three candidates, the role of the outgoing president Jokowi in the race, the electoral system and the role of parties in Indonesia's democracy. Sign up for South-East Asia news through the Dari Mulut ke Mulut newsletter. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support. You can listen...
Feb 08, 2024•28 min•Ep 112•Transcript available on Metacast Ben is joined by Shaun Ratcliff from Accent Research to discuss his recent report looking at differences in voting trends across the generations. We discuss how Millenials and Gen Z voters are much more left-wing than Baby Boomers, explore some theories as to why, and look at evidence as to which of those theories may be right. We then discuss what this implies for the next few decades of Australian politics. Read Shaun's report at Accent Research. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s s...
Dec 07, 2023•39 min•Ep 111•Transcript available on Metacast Ben is joined by Dr Simon Hix from the European University Institute to discuss a paper he co-wrote with John Carey about finding the Electoral Sweet Spot : how low-magnitude proportional representation systems tend to combine the best of majoritarian and proportional systems. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support. You can listen to an ad-free version of this podcast if you sign up via Patreon...
Nov 23, 2023•36 min•Ep 110•Transcript available on Metacast Shane Easson has been drawing up redistribution submissions for the Australian Labor Party since 1984. This year he's not doing the Labor submission for New South Wales, although he is working on those in some other states, and he came on the podcast to talk about how it works, the things you've got to consider when writing such a submission, and whether they have any influence on the outcome. We also discuss some of the likely outcomes of the current NSW federal redistribution and the need to c...
Nov 09, 2023•33 min•Ep 109•Transcript available on Metacast Today's podcast was recorded at the roundtable on Boundary Delimitation and Malapportionment in Asia and the Pacific held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on October 28-29, 2023. The event was hosted by Indonesian NGO Perludem and Malaysian organisations Bersih and Tindak Malaysia, in coordination with International IDEA. I attended to present on Papua New Guinea's electoral boundaries and while there I recorded interviews with six of the other participants. In this episode you'll hear from: Niranjan S...
Oct 29, 2023•27 min•Ep 108•Transcript available on Metacast Ben is joined by William Bowe from the Poll Bludger to recap the results of the 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.
Oct 15, 2023•30 min•Ep 107•Transcript available on Metacast Ben is joined today by Peter Brent to wrap up the referendum campaign. We discuss the state of the polls, the relative position of the states, whether the low Yes vote can really be blamed on the state of the campaign or by the fundamental referendum trends, and what data points might line up with the results on Saturday. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon . If you find this podcast worthwhile please consider giving your support....
Oct 10, 2023•28 min•Ep 106•Transcript available on Metacast Ben is joined by James Mulrennan from The Overhang . We preview next weekend's New Zealand national election, touching on the electoral system, the state of the parties and the polls, and the potential shape of the next 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 05, 2023•42 min•Ep 105•Transcript available on Metacast Ben is joined by historian Alison Holland, who is researching the history of ATSIC, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. We discuss the history and current existence of Indigenous elected institutions around Australia, including ATSIC and its predecessors at a federal level, regional land councils and state Voices that have started to pop up. Alison's article in The Conversation about why those who claim that ATSIC failed have put the blame in the wrong place. This podcast is su...
Sep 21, 2023•29 min•Ep 104•Transcript available on Metacast Ben is joined by Paul Kildea and Andre Brett to discuss the history of Australian referendums. We discuss the historical origins of referendums at both the state and federal level, the dynamics of referendum campaigns, how different states tend to vote, the voters' bias towards the status quo, and discuss some of our favourite referendums. We reference some fairly obscure referendums, including the 1928 referendum in the Australian Federal Territory on ending prohibition, the 1951 and 1965 Wool ...
Sep 07, 2023•45 min•Ep 103•Transcript available on Metacast Ben is joined by psephologist Henry Schlechta to discuss two issues of democratic reform in Victoria: the arguments around abolishing group voting tickets, and the implementation of single-member wards for urban Victorian councils. Sadly this isn't a story of Victoria improving its electoral systems - mostly they are getting worse or staying the same. Ben's podcast with Kevin from November 2022 discussing the problems with group voting tickets. Ben's estimates of who would have won seats in the ...
Aug 24, 2023•32 min•Ep 102•Transcript available on Metacast Ben is joined by ABC chief election analyst Antony Green for the 100th episode of the Tally Room podcast to discuss the many redistributions currently underway around Australia: federal redistributions, state and territory redistributions and even local council ward redistributions. We discuss the population trends affecting the drawing of federal boundaries, the process of drawing, and how we make estimates of margins in new electorates. Read Antony's most recent post about prospects for the NS...
Aug 10, 2023•47 min•Ep 101•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 
