SACE Stage 2 Politics, Power and People cheat sheet

Liberalism centres on individual liberty, consent of the governed, rule of law and constitutional limits on state power; it splits into classical liberalism (negative liberty, free markets) and social liberalism (positive liberty, welfare provision).

Socialism holds that production should be socially owned or controlled and that equality of outcome matters; communism (revolutionary, classless end-state) and social democracy (reformist, mixed economy) are its main branches.

Conservatism prioritises order, tradition, organic society and pragmatic change; it distrusts abstract rationalism and typically defends hierarchy, property and established institutions.

Fascism combines extreme nationalism, leader cult, suppression of dissent and rejection of liberal democracy; it is defined by its glorification of struggle and the subordination of the individual to the nation or race.

Feminism analyses patriarchy and gendered power; liberal feminism seeks equality through law and reform, radical feminism targets structural male dominance, and intersectional feminism links gender to race, class and other axes.

Nationalism holds that a nation (shared culture, language, history or ethnicity) should have political self-determination; civic nationalism defines membership by citizenship, ethnic nationalism by descent.

The left-right spectrum maps positions on equality versus hierarchy and on state intervention versus market allocation; a single axis understates libertarian and authoritarian positions, which a two-axis model captures.

Anarchism rejects compulsory state authority in favour of voluntary cooperation; pacifist, collectivist and individualist strands differ on whether force or markets organise society.

Ideologies are distinguished by their view of human nature (perfectible or flawed), their account of freedom (negative versus positive) and their preferred site of authority (individual, community, state, class or nation).

Australia's federal Parliament is bicameral: the House of Representatives (151 members, single-member electorates, three-year terms) and the Senate (76 senators, 12 per state and 2 per territory, six-year terms, half elected at each normal election).

The Constitution separates powers among legislature (s 1), executive (s 61) and judiciary (s 71); responsible government fuses executive and legislature because ministers must sit in and answer to Parliament.

Section 44 disqualifies candidates with dual citizenship, undischarged bankruptcy, certain criminal convictions or paid Crown office; the High Court sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns interprets it.

A referendum under s 128 requires a double majority: a national majority of voters plus a majority in at least four of the six states; the Constitution has been amended only eight times from 44 attempts.

Compulsory preferential voting in the House means a member needs 50 per cent plus one of the two-candidate-preferred vote; Senate proportional representation uses above-the-line party voting or below-the-line preferences with a quota of about 14.3 per cent per state.

The High Court exercises judicial review (Marbury v Madison logic, implied in Australia by Chapter III) and can invalidate legislation inconsistent with the Constitution; separation of judicial power forbids non-judicial detention except in limited cases.

Ministerial responsibility has two limbs: collective responsibility (Cabinet solidarity, confidentiality) and individual responsibility (answerability to Parliament for a portfolio); the convention is enforced politically, not legally.

A hung parliament occurs when no party wins a majority of lower-house seats; confidence and supply agreements with crossbenchers then determine who forms government.

Policy process stages: agenda setting, formulation, decision, implementation by the public service, and evaluation; interest groups and the media shape agenda setting, while the Senate and courts act as veto points.

Lukes' three faces of power: (1) decision-making power in open conflict, (2) non-decision-making that keeps issues off the agenda, and (3) ideological power shaping what people believe they want.

Weber's authority types are traditional (custom), charismatic (personal appeal) and legal-rational (office and rules); legitimacy converts power into authority.

Dahl's pluralist account holds power is dispersed among competing groups and no elite dominates all issues; elite theory (Michels' iron law of oligarchy, Mills' power elite) disputes this.

Forms of participation rank from voting and party membership to lobbying, petitions, strikes, boycotts, social-media campaigns and civil disobedience; unconventional participation is rising while party membership has declined.

In Australia, enrolment and voting are compulsory for federal elections (maximum penalty is a small fine); the minimum voting age is 18, and permanent residents are not entitled to vote.

Citizenship in Australia is acquired by birth to a citizen or permanent resident parent, by descent, or by conferral after a citizenship test, residence requirement and pledge of commitment.

Freedom of political communication is implied from ss 7 and 24 of the Constitution (Lange v ABC); it is not absolute and is balanced against defamation, electoral and national-security laws.

Social movements use framing, resource mobilisation and political opportunity structures; success depends on allies inside institutions, media attention and public sympathy.

A pressure group's influence depends on membership size, financial resources, access to ministers, insider status and the salience of the issue; business peak bodies typically enjoy structural power.

Realism explains state behaviour through anarchy, self-help and the national interest; liberalism emphasises institutions, trade interdependence and collective security; constructivism stresses norms and identities.

The United Nations Security Council has five permanent members with veto power (China, France, Russia, UK, US) and ten elected members serving two-year terms; the General Assembly gives each state one vote.

The International Court of Justice settles disputes between states and issues advisory opinions; the International Criminal Court prosecutes individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression.

Sovereignty gives states legal equality and non-intervention rights; the responsibility to protect (R2P, endorsed 2005) conditions sovereignty on protecting populations from mass-atrocity crimes.

Globalisation describes deepening flows of trade, capital, people and information; its critics cite inequality, labour standards and loss of domestic policy autonomy, while supporters cite growth and poverty reduction.

Collective action problems (climate change, fisheries, pandemics) arise because shared costs and diffuse benefits create incentives to free-ride; treaties need monitoring, sanctions and reciprocity to hold.

The Paris Agreement uses nationally determined contributions and a transparency framework rather than binding emissions targets; the Kyoto Protocol instead set binding targets for developed states only.

Australia's alliances include ANZUS (with the US and New Zealand, 1951) and the Five Eyes intelligence arrangement; middle powers like Australia pursue coalition-building and niche diplomacy.

Terrorism, migration, cyber-attacks and nuclear proliferation are transnational issues that cross borders, so unilateral responses are limited and multilateral cooperation is stressed in SACE case studies.