There are many factors at play including outdated preselection processes at local levels and a lack of targeted efforts by major parties beyond tokenism.
Oliver Cromwell dissolving the Long Parliament.
National Portrait Gallery
Andrew Wallace has been appointed to the increasingly important role of speaker of the House of Representatives.
Introduced in the early weeks of the pandemic, the Coronavirus Act 2020 gave the government sweeping powers across a range of areas.
Eddie Mullholland / EPA-EFE
The ‘safeguard’ reviews have been largely ineffective in scrutinising the powers.
Our first-past-the-post electoral system works poorly when there are lots of three-way races and even some four-way races. Seats can be won with far less than a majority, meaning it’s time to revisit electoral reform.
Pietro Mattia/Unsplash
Parties strive for gender equality in preselecting candidates. But if they select more women than men in marginal seats, this isn’t true equality — it’s ticking a box.
Students protesting at a climate rally in Berlin, Germany, March 2019.
(Mika Baumeister/Unsplash)
When contacting your political representative about climate change, messages that show you’ve made effort and those that have a personal touch can be more persuasive.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the weekly PMQs session in the House of Commons where he can be challenged by members of parliament.
Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament
Speaker Tony Smith – who has been battling to force better behaviour in the House of Representatives on MPs including Scott Morrison – has announced he will not contest the next election.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that the connections between science and policy need to be reconsidered.
(Shutterstock)
A new standing committee will ensure that Canadian federal policy is based on science. The committee should consider critical ethical thinking, scholarship and action, as well as legal frameworks and sociocultural values.
Nigeria cannot afford the high cost of creating additional seats in its National Assembly.
Sunday/Aghaeze/AFP via Getty Images
Quota systems provide opportunities for more women to stand for election. But they’re not enough.
The principles of diversity, equity and inclusivity are important, and taking action so that Canadian politics are not dominated by one segment of society is necessary to democratize our institutions.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
If we are to transform the culture of Canadian political institutions, we must take immediate, deliberate and intentional action by engaging more women, BIPOC and marginalized people.
There are many legitimate reasons why survivors of sexual violence may not immediately report to police. But a delay in reporting, in itself, should not affect the credibility of the allegations.
The male privilege in Australia’s parliament has given its members such a sense of exceptionalism, they think the standards of the corporate office should not apply to their workplace.
New research sheds light on why sexual misconduct and bullying is so common in political offices and why political staffers have few options to hold those in power to account.