The Poarter
Banned
The 2010 Australian Federal Election would see the outbreak of the vaulted Third Party of Australia. In this instance this was the Australia Greens. For the first time since 1940, Australia found itself with a hung parliament, which would radically change the policies of the country over the next three years.
Hindsight tells us that the Australia Election was not truly surprising from the world stage, but nevertheless came as a shock to notable career politicians and analysts who were not expecting a balance of power to lie so decisively with such a party.
In essence it was the Caroline Lucas effect described as the phenomenon of several left-wings, and occasionally right wing parties, gaining prominence and increased political power in federal elections of industrialized countries. The election of Caroline Lucas as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom would kick down the door of opportunities for various parties whose platforms would have once seem completely radical a year prior.
It has been cited by many intellectuals that the Australian and Belgian elections was simply one of the many examples that brought up the prominence of left wing ideologies. The 2013 federal election of Germany saw the rise of the Green Party to second place position. Belgium’s Greens saw themselves rise to become the fourth largest party in 2010. 2011 would see the United Left become the official Opposition of Spain against the Socialists Workers Party. Most notably, and exceptionally, the 2011 Canadian Election would see the country government run by the Centre-left Liberals against a Coalition of the New Democratic Party and the Greens. While Canada was clearly the most extreme of all examples and the world, outside of the United Kingdom, a clear and consistent trend emerges.
The growing power of the New Left and various Green parties regardless of borders.
Various factors can be attributed to the rise of the left in industrialized countries throughout Europe, Asia and parts of the Americas. The answers range from the 2008 Recession, climate change and environmental awareness, rising costs of living, the growing income divide in the industrialized world to the reverse disenfranchisement of voters and their apathy to politics. Collectively these and many other factors demonstrate a clear and concise desire against free-market capitalistic treaties aided by the rise of social media and internet policies.
In less than two years the governing parties and the political arenas of every developed country had changed. Whether or not we are in agreement on its effects, this is the world we live in. And it is the world Caroline Lucas has brought us into.
Hindsight tells us that the Australia Election was not truly surprising from the world stage, but nevertheless came as a shock to notable career politicians and analysts who were not expecting a balance of power to lie so decisively with such a party.
In essence it was the Caroline Lucas effect described as the phenomenon of several left-wings, and occasionally right wing parties, gaining prominence and increased political power in federal elections of industrialized countries. The election of Caroline Lucas as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom would kick down the door of opportunities for various parties whose platforms would have once seem completely radical a year prior.
It has been cited by many intellectuals that the Australian and Belgian elections was simply one of the many examples that brought up the prominence of left wing ideologies. The 2013 federal election of Germany saw the rise of the Green Party to second place position. Belgium’s Greens saw themselves rise to become the fourth largest party in 2010. 2011 would see the United Left become the official Opposition of Spain against the Socialists Workers Party. Most notably, and exceptionally, the 2011 Canadian Election would see the country government run by the Centre-left Liberals against a Coalition of the New Democratic Party and the Greens. While Canada was clearly the most extreme of all examples and the world, outside of the United Kingdom, a clear and consistent trend emerges.
The growing power of the New Left and various Green parties regardless of borders.
Various factors can be attributed to the rise of the left in industrialized countries throughout Europe, Asia and parts of the Americas. The answers range from the 2008 Recession, climate change and environmental awareness, rising costs of living, the growing income divide in the industrialized world to the reverse disenfranchisement of voters and their apathy to politics. Collectively these and many other factors demonstrate a clear and concise desire against free-market capitalistic treaties aided by the rise of social media and internet policies.
In less than two years the governing parties and the political arenas of every developed country had changed. Whether or not we are in agreement on its effects, this is the world we live in. And it is the world Caroline Lucas has brought us into.
The Age writer and Author Ross Grittins
The Caroline Lucas Effect: The Rise of the Radical Left and the Greens
Published in 2014
The Caroline Lucas Effect: The Rise of the Radical Left and the Greens
Published in 2014
Last edited: