While it is traditional for the losing party to indulge in the post-election rite of extracting philosophical meaning from an election and discovering new demographic dynamics, in exploring these important factors, it should not be missed that the 2022 election is about more than shifting demographics and philosophical appeal. It is a story of political franchise and franchising. It is a story of a business model disrupted.
Franchise is a word that can be used in many senses. They overlap neatly here.
Every person over the age of 18 in Australia has political franchise in the form of a (compulsory) vote. But the ability to participate in democracy as an elected official was previously limited to a few who could gain preselection within a political party, or – more rarely – mount a strong enough individual campaign.
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