Why Australia’s prime ministerial musical chairs should not shake faith in democracy

It has been a bruising few years for democracy. From the top of one branch of the American government, President Donald Trump has dominated another and has waged an attack on the independence of the third. An angry Britain quarrels over Brexit negotiations while a tired Europe beats back succeeding waves of far-right political insurgencies. In political science, the titles of the season put the writing on the wall: How Democracies Die, The People vs. Democracy, How Democracy Ends.

In this grey climate, Australia should be a reliable tick in democracy’s “win” column. Australia has not had a recession in 27 years. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development concluded that, despite modest growth and rising inequality, “GDP per capita is high and well-being indicators compare favourably”. It is an effective two-party system, consisting of a Labour and Liberal Party that, in various forms, have governed since federation in 1901.

Despite these promising conditions for political stability, Australian politics is in disarray. Last week, the ruling Liberal Party voted internally to overthrow then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and replace him with his treasurer, Scott Morrison. This was only the latest in a series of internal rebellions that plagued both sides of Australian politics: Morrison is Australia’s sixth prime minister in 10 years.

On its face, the Australian example confirms the suspicions of those sceptical of representative democracy. These arguments are most forcefully articulated in China, where President Xi Jinping has long favoured a “consultative democracy,” shielded from electoral accountability.

Scholars like Tongdong Bai and Daniel Bell make the case against liberal democracy, at least as a model for China, on Confucian grounds. They charge that representative democracies prioritise popularity over competence. Bai writes that it inspires a “radical individualism and anti-intellectualism” that elevates populists, and trades long-term vision for electoral gains.