Why Our Govt. Parties Love Minorities

Governments are about votes, not people, not what is best for the country, but votes.

Every election you can figure that about 40% will vote for one party and 40% will vote for another. They will do this year in and year out. Perhaps because their parents did so, or perhaps because they believe in the party politics but it is very unlikely that under normal conditions they will change their votes. The number may not be 40/40 but you get the idea.

That leave s a smaller segment of the community to focus on before each election. A canny politician will know that some racial or ethnic groups will vote in a block. This is what happened in Benalong with the Chinese and pushed Howard out.

This is also what happens at all levels of government. The Chinese community put a Chinese mayor in Adelaide and kicked him out when he did things that they did not like.

So if you want to win an election you will identify the major ethnic groups in the swing voter category and tailor your policies towards them. You will keep away from the major issues that drive the majority of voters and focus on getting enough of the smaller groups to push you past the required numbers.

This is why policies and Bill are drafted that are no good to the majority and sometimes would be directly against the wishes of the majority, to get the votes next time. When you think about it this is no longer democracy in the sens of looking out for the majority but populism. This is what people like Rudd and Obama do to get elected. The problem is that it takes a while before the rest of the people start to understand just how much they may have lost in the process. In some cases it may also be too late.