Australian Electoral Study

With the upcoming election in full swing, Professor Ian McAllister’s Australian Electoral Study is particularly timely and relevant as he asks “Does the Australian political party system offer voters a meaningful set of political choices?”

Professor McAllister suggests we know from international research that too limited a choice inhibits democracy, while too wide a choice weakens accountability. However, we know little about how the choices that are offered at an election shape the decision-making processes that voters use. The ninth in the series of Australian Election Studies, this national survey of voters, to be conducted immediately after  the 2010 federal election, will address this question, as well as providing a freely available dataset for research and teaching by the Australian and international social science communities.

In addition to providing an in-depth understanding of general patterns of Australian voting behaviour, the 2010 Australian Election Study will provide a detailed, objective account of how and why voters made up their minds in the 2010 federal election. The 2010 AES adds to the unbroken series of national election surveys conducted after each Australian federal election since 1987. These surveys provide an unrivalled resource for moving beyond impressionistic accounts of political behaviour. The survey will enable researchers to determine what citizens think of politics and the processes that produce a government and to understand how and why mass political attitudes have changed over a quarter of a century.

Ian McAllister is Distinguished Professor of Political Science in the School of Politics and International Relations.

Visit the Australian Election Study webpage for more information.