TThe Liberal Party’s failure to field almost a third of its candidates in the New South Wales local elections was an embarrassment for the party and a major setback for the Conservatives in a number of local councils, but it also draws attention to the crucial role that political parties play in our democracy.
It is hard to imagine a modern representative democracy without parties. They play a crucial role in making choices easier and clearer for voters. We know who is likely to lead a government and what their political agenda is. And those in power can be held to account by dissatisfied voters.
Parties are also tools for forming governments and crucially create incentives for opposition. If our parliament consisted entirely of independents, it would be much more chaotic and confusing. It would be difficult to know who to hold accountable and there would be an incentive for every group to find a role in government without any opposition.
It is common for people to argue that political parties have no role in local government, but I believe that the same democratic principles are important at the local level, at least in large city councils.
When a voter is faced with a list of names with no party affiliation, they have to work much harder to understand who they are voting for. Which candidates work well with others? Which ones represent the status quo of council policy or would mean change? Voters shouldn’t have to go through all that effort to cast an informed vote.
But democracy depends on these parties performing their duties competently, and the Liberal Party has completely failed to do so in this election.
In some local authorities, such as Penrith and Northern Beaches, Conservative voters are not represented at all. Voters are faced with the choice of either voting for someone with a completely different position, casting a void vote, or not voting at all. In one Penrith ward, there will be no election at all.
This was not always the case. The Liberal Party traditionally avoided standing for most local councils, even when Labor had a stronger presence on local councils. Instead, there were groups of local conservative independents across much of Sydney, some of whom may have been members of the Liberal Party. But as the Liberals expanded their reach, these independents were pushed out of local councils and either became official Liberal candidates or left local politics. This meant that when the Liberal Party failed to make it onto the ballot, a large part of the political spectrum was left completely empty.
Of course, parties are free to choose where they want to stand, but generally that is known in advance, leaving room for others. The Liberals decided not to run for a number of Sydney councils in 2021, but some incumbent Liberal councillors ran as independents and other groups filled their seats.
And while parties can be very helpful for local democracy, it is not always the same parties that dominate federal and state politics. In municipalities such as Northern Beaches, Georges River, Fairfield and Shoalhaven, there is a local party that exists only within that one municipality, but is just as strong or even stronger than the local Labor and Liberal parties. Local municipalities often have different policy issues and a different voter structure to parliamentary districts, so it is not surprising that different parties can succeed at the local level.
Although parties play a crucial role in our democratic system, they are ultimately private organizations that are largely self-governing according to their own rules, with few things regulated by the government. But when they don’t play their role, the democratic system doesn’t work very well.
The Liberal Party’s failure is a boon for left-wing parties in this year’s election. Labor is likely to win majorities in a number of suburban municipalities that they would not have otherwise been able to, and in municipalities such as Northern Beaches the Liberals were prevented from taking the municipality. But this is not a good way to bring about democratic change.
Our democratic system relies on election results to reflect, in some way, people’s voting behavior. If there is a significant change in voting behavior, this should also be reflected in a change in who is eligible to vote, who is in power, and how that power is used.
The Liberal Party’s nomination debacle will result in changes in the election to some councils, but not in a way that particularly reflects voters’ intentions.
Ultimately, this democratic failure is the fault of the liberals, but that is not how democracy ideally works.
