The American Revolution and Declaration of Independence were based on the radical idea that the people, not a monarch, were sovereign and should choose their own government.
Going forward 250 years, the “No Kings” movement of ordinary citizens protesting Donald Trump’s presidency highlights the gulf between the ideals and reality of American democracy.
Protestors see some of the most cherished ideas of America’s founding — the separation of powers, equality before the law, leaders constrained by checks and balances — as under threat.
The causes are many. Social and political polarisation, driven by changes in the information environment and the echo chamber algorithms of social media, replacing reasoned debate. A president seeking unconstrained power and willing to use the law to harass political opponents. A supine Congress unable to pass bipartisan legislation. A Supreme Court that appears openly partisan, greenlighting a new wave of gerrymandering and the destruction of the Voting Rights Act (US).
A century after 1776, Australia borrowed some of these same ideas as it began its own journey from a collection of British colonies to a united nation in the late 1800s.
Yet American democracy endures, with other power centres in the states, the courts and the press allowing “ambition must be made to counteract ambition” under America’s diverse and decentralised governance model.
A century after 1776, Australia borrowed some of these same ideas as it began its own journey from a collection of British colonies to a united nation in the late 1800s.
Federalism, with popular sovereignty pooled across a vast continent and even shared with a foreign-based monarch, made Australia’s 1901 constitutional settlement possible.
In a parliamentary rather than a presidential system, bicameral representation of the popular will and the component states, via a House of Representatives and a Senate, echoed the US design.
Australia’s “Washminster” system of government and politics has responded to American democracy ever since — sometimes with the United States as a source of inspiration, others as a cautionary tale.
While local democratic innovations such as a secret vote were taken up in America as the “Australian ballot,” post-war Australia’s retail politics increasingly followed American trends.
Whether it was Franklin D Roosevelt’s fireside chats over the radio, John F Kennedy’s early mastery of television, or most recently Trump’s dominance of social media, new communication technologies, campaign techniques, and the professionalisation of politics took their cues from American leads.
Today, many Australians demonstrate a (possibly unhealthy) fascination with the drama of American politics. Google search data suggests Australians consumed more media on recent US elections than on their own federal polls.
They also have strong feelings about the direction of US politics, with many concerned about the direction of US democracy and the levels of political violence and misinformation, according to 2026 USSC polling.
In conversations around the country as part of our 2026 National Engagement in all states and territories, Australians are especially vocal about their opinions on the Trump administration, which they frequently characterise as “unpredictable,” “unreliable” and “untrustworthy.”
Yet we also know from opinion polls that a significant minority think the opposite and will back attempts to emulate MAGA politics here in Australia.
Many Australians take pride in those aspects of our democracy that distinguish it from the United States.
Many Australians take pride in those aspects of our democracy that distinguish it from the United States: non-partisan national electoral administration, compulsory and preferential voting, and the lack of gerrymandered electoral boundaries.
Despite growing social polarisation, many seem to believe that these guardrails make Australian democracy less vulnerable to a US-style populist takeover.
But is it? At the time of writing, One Nation is polling unprecedented levels of support, with up to a third of the electorate willing to vote for the populist party if an election were held today.
This is similar to support levels reached by MAGA in the United States. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has made no secret of her admiration for Donald Trump and for the MAGA political playbook.
It may even be that compulsory voting will drag to the polls some who would otherwise not vote at all, and preferences allow a splintered right-wing to aggregate rather than split their vote, as has happened before in Australian electoral history.
For now, what we can say with some certainty is that if populism does come to Australian politics, it will be with a heavy American flavour.
Time will tell. For now, what we can say with some certainty is that if populism does come to Australian politics, it will be with a heavy American flavour.
In this, the place of American democracy in Australian political consciousness is like that of the United States itself. Sometimes revered. Sometimes reviled. Always influential.
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