Ballyhoo and balloons: political elections

Why do the political parties need their funding? To pay for their electoral advertising, the chief means at present of reaching the people. Why does this cost so much? The chief reasons are because television and advertising agencies are so expensive.

Do their advertisements tell the truth about the situation in the country and the policies that are planned? No. The advertisements are made with all the know-how of those who study what will sway the voter who wants to be entertained rather than informed.

We see this most of all in the United States, where only millionaires can try for the presidency, and balloons and ballyhoo are the hallmark of political rallies.

So why can’t television ads and advertising agencies be ruled out of electoral expenses? Then the money of the men of power need not be solicited by the political parties, to place them in their debt. Those who give vast sums to both the major political parties will no longer be able to sway an election no matter how the voters decide.

There will still be ways that money will influence elections, but it will have less influence in the Parliament.

It is economic to reduce the costs of elections. The cost of advertising in elections are becoming higher than a country can fairly bear. TV advertising alone makes Australian elections too costly for our economy as well as less democratic.

The result of all this is that we do not live in a democracy in spite of our desire to impose democracies on other countries. Yet there are many things that could be done to make elections as compelling in people’s interest as your favourite football team, and to make the interest of the people more effective in allowing them to know the problems facing their country and to weigh up the candidates’ solutions. It is also plain that these innovations would not entirely solve the problem of money influencing elections; there are ways and means for money to speak loudly. Nevertheless, every election could be scored out of 20 for how close it comes to being democratic, and the ideal would remain.

There are many steps for electoral reform where Australia could lead the world, as it has led before.