Kathy Edwards, Lawrence Saha and Murray Print introduce the YES Project, which examines the attitudes of young Australians towards politics, democracy and voting. They discuss features of the democratic process that discourage young Australians from participating, as well as the ways in which they do participate.

The distinguishing feature of the Westminster form of responsible government is the virtually iron clad nexus between the elected executive and the parliament. Unlike other forms of responsible government, all ministers must be drawn from the membership of the Westminster parliament. Richard Herr considers some of the problems associated with small parliaments, exemplified by the...

The Coalition parties only received 45.09 per cent of the first preference vote in the Senate but won 21 of the 40 seats up for election, or 52.5 per cent of the seats. Scott Brenton analyses the relative lack of proportionality in the Senate, and some possible improvements.

Larissa Behrendt looks at the background to the abolition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. She argues that, in spite of some shortcomings, ATSIC made an important democratic contribution and its demise has left much of the Indigenous community lacking a voice in policy debates.

David Carment reviews the controversy surrounding the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2005, which gives the federal government the power to override the opposition of the NT Labor government and the NT Liberal Party as well as relevant Aboriginal heritage legislation and the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Carment argues that opposition to the...