Much of this Unit of Work will focus on the , "Money, Markets and Citizenship" (MacMillan: 2006), with a primary focus on chapters one and two. By the end of this unit, students should understand:
How governments are formed and elected, along with how they stay in power.
How and why federation occurred in Australia and how other countries came into existence.
By the end of this unit, students should be able to:
State and federal governments have 3 distinct parts, or branches:
parliament > sometimes called the legislature
ministers and the public service > the executive
the courts > the judiciary.
Each part has different, but connected, roles.
Parliament makes the laws
Parliament is where the politicians sometimes argue and shout at each other on the nightly TV news. Officially, parliament:
decides which party or parties form the government
makes laws
is a forum to represent the people and examine the actions of ministers and the public service.
We often think of laws as being just about things like crime and the road rules. However everything that governments do require laws, from making Centrelink payments to running schools and hospitals. These laws often need changes and sometimes a complete overhaul.
The executive turns laws into action
The executive branch is usually referred to as thegovernment. It implements the laws made by Parliament. It consists of all the ministers in the governing party, including the Prime Minister or the Premier. Cabinet: All the ministers in the governing party are part of the executive. However, most policies and laws are initiated by Cabinet - like a committee of senior government ministers including the Prime Minister or Premier.
Government departments and the public servants (staff) who work in them are also part of the executive because they implement government policies and laws under the authority of a minister.
Courts adjudicate (referee) on laws
We usually think of courts as places that criminal suspects are prosecuted, and disputes between individuals or companies are resolved - not a central part of our system of government.
When courts deal with crime, or disputes between people, they deal with those issues according to laws made by parliament. They often have to interpret what parliament meant by the words in those laws. In this way courts both implement and interpret the laws of parliament.
As well, some courts scrutinize the actions of both parliament and the executive and can sometimes overturn an Act of Parliament or a decision of the executive.
So each of these branches of government has separate functions and is separate from the others. But each one is also linked with the other two, having some powers over the others, just as the other branches have some power over it.
No one branch has all the power in a democratic system. We call this the separation of powers, and it is one of the differences between a democracy and a dictatorship.
Federal Seats Held By Men (In Blue)
Inside the Federal Government
The Federal Government is split into two distinct bodies; the Upper House (Senate) and the Lower House (House of Representatives)
The Upper House (Senate)
The Role of the Senate:
The Lower House (The House of Representatives)
The composition of the House: Post 2010 Election
Keeping in mind that to form government, the winning party must secure 76 seats, the CoalitionParty (the four parties indented below combined) and the Australian Labor Party only reached 72 seats. The two major parties had the unusual task of scrambling to convince the four Independent Senators (senators that do not represent any political party) the Australian Greens Senator and the National Party (WA) Senator for their vote of confidence and supply. Julia Gillard's Labor Government won the Greens Senator's and three of the Independent Senators' votes in order to claim a minority government (refer to Majority vs. Mino). The Coalition Party could only win over the National Party Senator and one Independent.
Majority vs. Minority Governments
While I am not saying that I either support or oppose the Greens, this is an excellent clip that shows the difference between a majority and a minority government. When the Liberal/National Party (LNP) had a majority government in the Senate prior to the 2007 election, they were able to pass legislation (potential laws) through the Upper House that the rest of the parties may or may not have agreed with, but still could not stop.
As the LNP had more than 50% of the voting power, they had an unmatchable balance of power unless the rare act of "crossing the floor" occurred, where a member of the LNP would vote with the opposition, literally crossing the floor to the other group to do so. This is rare because it is often only senators in secure seats (eg. they have a lot of support from their voters and their party) that have the liberty to voice their opinions in this manner.
The Government and You
Much of this Unit of Work will focus on the , "Money, Markets and Citizenship" (MacMillan: 2006), with a primary focus on chapters one and two.
By the end of this unit, students should understand:
- How governments are formed and elected, along with how they stay in power.
- How and why federation occurred in Australia and how other countries came into existence.
By the end of this unit, students should be able to:State and federal governments have 3 distinct parts, or branches:
- parliament > sometimes called the legislature
- ministers and the public service > the executive
- the courts > the judiciary.
Each part has different, but connected, roles.Parliament makes the laws
Parliament is where the politicians sometimes argue and shout at each other on the nightly TV news. Officially, parliament:- decides which party or parties form the government
- makes laws
- is a forum to represent the people and examine the actions of ministers and the public service.
We often think of laws as being just about things like crime and the road rules. However everything that governments do require laws, from making Centrelink payments to running schools and hospitals. These laws often need changes and sometimes a complete overhaul.The executive turns laws into action
The executive branch is usually referred to as the government. It implements the laws made by Parliament. It consists of all the ministers in the governing party, including the Prime Minister or the Premier.Cabinet: All the ministers in the governing party are part of the executive. However, most policies and laws are initiated by Cabinet - like a committee of senior government ministers including the Prime Minister or Premier.
Government departments and the public servants (staff) who work in them are also part of the executive because they implement government policies and laws under the authority of a minister.
Courts adjudicate (referee) on laws
We usually think of courts as places that criminal suspects are prosecuted, and disputes between individuals or companies are resolved - not a central part of our system of government.When courts deal with crime, or disputes between people, they deal with those issues according to laws made by parliament. They often have to interpret what parliament meant by the words in those laws. In this way courts both implement and interpret the laws of parliament.
As well, some courts scrutinize the actions of both parliament and the executive and can sometimes overturn an Act of Parliament or a decision of the executive.
Separation of Powers
So each of these branches of government has separate functions and is separate from the others. But each one is also linked with the other two, having some powers over the others, just as the other branches have some power over it.
No one branch has all the power in a democratic system. We call this the separation of powers, and it is one of the differences between a democracy and a dictatorship.
Federal Seats Held By Men (In Blue)
Inside the Federal Government
The Federal Government is split into two distinct bodies; the Upper House (Senate) and the Lower House (House of Representatives)The Upper House (Senate)
The Role of the Senate:
The Lower House (The House of Representatives)
The composition of the House: Post 2010 Election
Keeping in mind that to form government, the winning party must secure 76 seats, the Coalition Party (the four parties indented below combined) and the Australian Labor Party only reached 72 seats. The two major parties had the unusual task of scrambling to convince the four Independent Senators (senators that do not represent any political party) the Australian Greens Senator and the National Party (WA) Senator for their vote of confidence and supply. Julia Gillard's Labor Government won the Greens Senator's and three of the Independent Senators' votes in order to claim a minority government (refer to Majority vs. Mino). The Coalition Party could only win over the National Party Senator and one Independent.Majority vs. Minority Governments
While I am not saying that I either support or oppose the Greens, this is an excellent clip that shows the difference between a majority and a minority government. When the Liberal/National Party (LNP) had a majority government in the Senate prior to the 2007 election, they were able to pass legislation (potential laws) through the Upper House that the rest of the parties may or may not have agreed with, but still could not stop.As the LNP had more than 50% of the voting power, they had an unmatchable balance of power unless the rare act of "crossing the floor" occurred, where a member of the LNP would vote with the opposition, literally crossing the floor to the other group to do so. This is rare because it is often only senators in secure seats (eg. they have a lot of support from their voters and their party) that have the liberty to voice their opinions in this manner.