Sharon Beder takes a look at the increasing use of 'strategic lawsuits against public participation', or SLAPPs, by corporations against individual citizens and groups for exercising their democratic rights.

Robin Tennant-Wood explores the 'symbiotic relationship' between Australia's political parties and the Australian media, focusing on the media's sometimes reluctant scrutiny of party funding.

Peter Andren, the independent federal member for Calare, attacks the excesses of parliamentary 'entitlements' employed in the pursuit of re-election. 'We have a system,' he writes, 'that delivers all representatives incredible privileges and power through incumbency.'

Peter Brent looks at above-the-line Senate ticket voting and the practice of 'preference swapping', which proved controversial at the 9 October election, and asks: how can we justify these practices in terms of democratic values and respect for the preferences of voters? He sheds some light on how a party with only 1.9 per cent...

Sally Young looks at the rise in the level of informal votes cast in the 2004 federal election, which highlights the need for funding to be restored to the Australian Electoral Commission so that it can conduct adequate community education programs, particularly in electorates with large numbers of Australians from non-English speaking countries. Such a...