Party democracy: An audit of Australian parties

Competition between candidates representing political parties is usually re garded as a central feature of a liberal democracy. However, where competit ion between parties fails to provide the public with an effective choice of candidates, the real competition between candidates is displaced to a comp etition for party endorsement within particular parties. The paper examines the democratic implications of this displacement, and reports the findings of an audit of candidate-selection procedures within the principal Austral ian parties. The paper argues inter alia that the closed nature of electora l competition and the public status of Australian political parties imply t hat their internal affairs should be conducted democratically. The paper de fines internal party democracy in structural and procedural terms. It appli es realistic standards-realistic, because too much internal democracy could render a party ineffective and restrict electoral competition-in conductin g an audit of the candidate-selection rules and the composition of candidat e-selection voting panels for the principal Australian parties. The paper c oncludes with a suggestion for policy reform.