Abstract
Introduction
A robust constitutional framework is one of the preconditions of a healthy democracy, setting out the essential rules, principles and expectations that regulate and animate the political system. However, not all the rules that matter are set out in a codified, written constitution. Some of these rules are unwritten and take the form of constitutional conventions (or political norms). These conventions give form, meaning and substance to the written constitution. They play a crucial role in regulating democratic processes and elite behaviour, managing disagreements and in remedying constitutional and political stalemates (Azari and Smith 2012; Helmke and Levitsky 2004; Levitsky and Ziblatt 2018; Lieberman et al. 2019). Conceiving of a constitution without the conventions that complement it provides an incomplete picture of the framework of rules undergirding democracy in Australia or, for that matter, any democratic country.
Constitutional conventions are created, interpreted and enforced by public officials. While this arrangement is efficient and practical, and has desirable normative properties, it is not without limitations. This chapter seeks to identify the factors that may be weakening elite adherence to constitutional norms in Australia. It then examines how to address this problem, arguing that citizens have a key role to play as guardians of these norms. We argue that the important work that conventions perform in regulating public officials can be better reflected in, and supported by, the Australian citizenry. However, this requires a reinterpretation of the role of citizens and efforts to boost their capacity to play a greater role in providing critical oversight of those who violate conventions without cause.
More specifically, this chapter makes the case for the ‘democratisation of constitutional conventions’, defined for our purposes as the diffusion of awareness and knowledge about conventions beyond the political class whose actions these conventions regulate. We argue that contemporary changes in the media landscape, governmental practices and emergent political polarisation make it necessary to extend the custodianship of norms beyond government officials to be more inclusive of citizens. Doing so will increase the political and electoral costs of norm transgression without weakening the inherent flexibility of these essential constitutional devices.