Public opinion on Indigenous issues and constitutional recognition: three decades of liberalisation

Levy, Ron; McAllister, Ian

doi:10.1080/10361146.2021.2014398

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The outcome of the voice to parliament referendum re ected an intricate combination of factors which played into the strategies for both the yes and no camp. Taken at face value the outcome is in contrast with the general high level of support that Australians show towards improving the well-being of the indigenous population (Levy & McAllister, 2022;Markham & Sanders, 2020). But understanding the outcome is not as simple as considering voters viewpoints around indigenous issues per se.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…The outcome of the referendum was in contrast to social surveys that have found that Australian generally support improving the well-being of the country's indigenous population (Levy & McAllister, 2022; Markham & Sanders, 2020) and this contrast became more stark when social commentary began to unpack the possible reasons for the overwhelming no-vote and the uneven support for the yes-vote.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

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Unravelling the Referendum: An analysis of the 2023 Australian Voice to Parliament Referendum outcomes across capital cities

Baum,

Mitchell

2024

Preprint

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The 2023 Australian Voice to Parliament Referendum presented a pivotal moment in the nation's democratic landscape, aiming to enshrine indigenous voices in the constitutional fabric through the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Despite widespread support for indigenous well-being, the referendum did not secure the necessary approval, prompting extensive analysis of its outcome. This paper employs an ecological approach to scrutinize the referendum's dynamics, exploring six hypotheses derived from public discourse. Findings reveal multifaceted influences on voting behavior. Economic concerns, exemplified by the cost-of-living crisis, seemingly diverted attention from constitutional reform, potentially swaying votes towards maintaining the status quo. Conversely, culturally diverse communities demonstrated heightened empathy towards indigenous issues, aligning with the yes vote. Lower levels of education correlated with support for the no vote, highlighting the impact of political knowledge on decision-making. Moreover, religious conservatism and political partisanship emerged as influential factors, with Christian values and party affiliations shaping voting patterns. These findings underscore the complexity of referendum dynamics, emphasizing the importance of effective messaging and understanding diverse socio-political contexts in shaping public opinion. The defeat of the referendum marks a setback in indigenous relations, prompting critical reflection on messaging strategies and the broader socio-political landscape. This analysis provides a foundational empirical framework for understanding the referendum outcome, offering insights crucial for informed discourse and future democratic endeavours.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Unravelling the Referendum: An analysis of the 2023 Australian Voice to Parliament Referendum outcomes across capital cities

Baum,

Mitchell

2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The final hypothesis is concerned with identifying the strongest bases of support for constitutional recognition of local government, in whatever form that may be. Other studies of support for political and institutional reform, and particularly the conferral of rights or democratic recognition through the constitution, often identify younger, more educated, financially secure, and left‐leaning voters as the most open to such change (see e.g., Davidson et al., 2006; Erdos, 2008; Levy & McAllister, 2022). There are also some international studies of relationships between aging populations and local government performance (see e.g., Ferreira et al., 2021), while local community attachment and political participation can become stronger as citizens age, although not in a linear way (de Mello, 2021).…”

Section: Empirically Comprehending Local Government Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

The legitimacy of local government in the Australian federation

Brenton,

Stein

2024

Politics & Policy

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Australian local government does not enjoy the status of its counterparts in comparable democracies and has long sought acknowledgment in the federal constitution. As these campaigns have consistently failed, this study considers how, and in which forms, local government obtains its own political legitimacy within a governance system centered on the citizen–state relationship, in addition to evaluating the relationships between the different forms of legitimacy. We find that positive perceptions of local government effectiveness are associated with higher levels of support for constitutional change, but that local governments need to pay more attention to systems of accountability and oversight, how building and planning issues are handled, and how they communicate with residents. Generally, and unsurprisingly, local government is appreciated more by those who rely on their services yet who are not always the loudest voices in public debates. Constitutional legitimacy is more likely when other sources of legitimacy are enhanced.Related ArticlesTran, Carolyn‐Thi Thanh Dung, and Brian Dollery. 2022. “Administrative Intensity and Financial Sustainability: An Empirical Analysis of the Victorian Local Government System.” Politics & Policy 50(3): 540–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12466.Van Acker, Elizabeth. 2009. “Service Delivery of Relationship Support Programs in Australia: Implications for the ‘Community Sector.’” Politics & Policy 37(6): 1307–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2009.00221.x.Wallis, Joe Tor Brodtkorb, Brian Dollery, and Muiris MacCarthaigh. 2017. “Commissions and Local Government Reform: Expressed Leadership Identities of Commissioners in Inquiries Proposing Municipal Mergers in Northern Ireland and New South Wales.” Politics & Policy 45(2): 285–308. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12199.

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“…Most of the pertinent works focus on the majority population. They examine the role anti-Indigenous racism (e.g., Beauvais 2022) or individual social-psychological factors play in attitudes toward Indigenous policies (e.g., Hartley, McGarty, and Donaghue 2013;Milojev, Sengupta, and Sibley 2014;Pehrson, González, and Brown 2011) or look at broad issues like constitutional recognition (e.g., Levy and McAllister 2022). On the whole, prior research did not yet comprehensively analyze -neither in the case of the Sámi nor of any other Indigenous peoples-attitudes by both Indigenous and majority populations toward the recognition of Indigenous rights.…”

Section: Indigenous Rights and Sámi Policies In Norway And Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divided Attitudes Toward Rectifying Injustice: How Preferences for Indigenous Policies Differ Between the Indigenous and Majority Populations of Norway and Sweden

Bergmann

2024

J. Race Ethnicity Politics

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Most states acknowledge the significance of Indigenous rights to rectify past injustices. Yet, on the domestic level, the realization of these rights depends on national policies. For democratic societies, questions about public opinion toward Indigenous policies are thus of great interest but remain largely unstudied. To what extent does the ethnic majority support policies conducive to Indigenous rights realization? And how different are the Indigenous population’s policy preferences? I use original experimental data from a vignette study to investigate these questions in the case of the Sámi people in Norway and Sweden. I hypothesize that groups’ attitudes are shaped by policies’ potential to alter the social status hierarchy between the majority and Indigenous populations. The results provide a nuanced picture. The ethnic majority shows significantly less support for policies facilitating Sámi linguistic, self-governance, and territorial rights. While the Sámi have, in general, more positive attitudes toward such policies, their support seems to be less pronounced than the majority’s resistance. Moreover, as attitudes are surprisingly similar when compared between Norway and Sweden, a country’s existing policy context does not appear to be crucial in the formation of these preferences.

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Public opinion on Indigenous issues and constitutional recognition: three decades of liberalisation

Cited by 4 publications

References 28 publications

Unravelling the Referendum: An analysis of the 2023 Australian Voice to Parliament Referendum outcomes across capital cities

Unravelling the Referendum: An analysis of the 2023 Australian Voice to Parliament Referendum outcomes across capital cities

The legitimacy of local government in the Australian federation

Divided Attitudes Toward Rectifying Injustice: How Preferences for Indigenous Policies Differ Between the Indigenous and Majority Populations of Norway and Sweden

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