TY - BOOK ID - 65275757 TI - Constitutional Reform as a Remedy for Political Disenchantment in Australia AU - Harris, Bede AU - SpringerLink (Online service) PY - 2020 SN - 981153599X 9811535981 9789811535994 PB - Singapore Springer Singapore :Imprint: Springer DB - UniCat KW - Constitutional law KW - Elections. KW - Civil procedure. KW - Democracy. KW - Political science. KW - Electoral Politics. KW - Civil Procedure Law. KW - Governance and Government. KW - Administration KW - Civil government KW - Commonwealth, The KW - Government KW - Political theory KW - Political thought KW - Politics KW - Science, Political KW - Social sciences KW - State, The KW - Self-government KW - Political science KW - Equality KW - Representative government and representation KW - Republics KW - Civil procedure KW - Procedure (Law) KW - Actions and defenses KW - Appellate procedure KW - Trial practice KW - Electoral politics KW - Franchise KW - Polls KW - Politics, Practical KW - Plebiscite KW - Political campaigns KW - Law and legislation UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:65275757 AB - The central argument of this book explores the disillusionment that Australians feel with regard to the way politics is conducted. The book explores causes of that disillusionment, and argues that because these are ultimately traceable to defects in the constitution, it is only through constitutional reform that government can be improved. This book argues that the current approach to constitutional debate suffers from the flaw of being anti-theoretical, in the sense that it is not grounded in any set of values, and is afflicted by a tendency to consider practical objections to reform before considering the moral case for it. This book argues that instead of accepting the constitution as it is, it is time we began to discuss how it ought to be, taking human dignity as the fundamental value upon which a constitution should be based. It then puts the case for change in a number of areas, including reform of the electoral system, enhanced parliamentary scrutiny of the executive, the inclusion in the constitution of a full bill of rights, the abolition of the federal system, realisation of the rights of Indigenous people, codification of constitutional conventions either in conjunction with or separately from an Australian republic, reform of the rules of standing in constitutional matters and, finally, the need to improve civics education. This book is designed to be provocative in the way that it directly challenges current academic orthodoxy. This book also outlines a proposed draft new constitution. This book will be of interest to anyone who is concerned about how Australia is governed and why it has been so difficult to achieve constitutional reform. ER -